


Piece By Piece

by words_reign_here



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, M/M, for zombie consequences, for zombie violence, if you are squeamish about that sort of thing, it has zombies, probably not the fic for you, so be prepared for zombie deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 02:37:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 35,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3340466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/words_reign_here/pseuds/words_reign_here
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel Novak is a teacher in a world full of dead people. Dean Winchester is his favorite meteorologist who keeps him up to date on all the latest movements of the zombies still roaming the country. Maybe humanity won, maybe they lost. But with thousands of zombies heading towards the small town where Castiel lives and with so little backup, what else can they do but fight?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Looks like the northeast is pretty clear throughout at least Wednesday.” Dean Winchester said, gesturing to the map behind him. “But Asheville is looking a little sketchy through the weekend. Nothing big, but there are a few patches here and there.” The map zoomed in on Asheville, showing dots and smudges of red marching across the city. “There is a much larger system moving through New Mexico that we have our eye on. Starting in Durango, Colorado early last week and moving down through Farmington, this system is a doozy.” Dean stepped back from the map the dots and smudges that were marching through Asheville covered most of the northwest block of New Mexico, all but obliterating the town of Farmington. “Farmington is in for a rough weekend, but here’s to hoping that all of you will make through just fine.” Dean Winchester smiled at the camera. “We have our eyes on you, New Mexico. Hope your walls are up, your pantries are stocked and your guns are loaded.” He paused. “Stay safe out there.” He turned back to his right, “Back to you, Sam.”

The camera cut to Sam Winchester behind a desk, a soft smile already in place. He shuffled some papers in front of him and marked something off on them. “Thanks for that, Dean. We’ll be watching out for you, New Mexico.” He turned to the other camera. “In other news, there is a bill in the House advocating for the recently Returned’s-”

Castiel snorted at the new term.

The Returned.

Like they were soldiers back from battle, people that they had been waiting on forever. He straightened his tie and pulled on his beaten leather jacket. On his back he slipped his favorite machete into the holster and his favorite gun and a couple of extra clips into his bag. He shut the tv off as Sam Winchester began to explain the new provision about the bill advocating for the rights of the Returned.

When the dead had returned, humanity had fought back. It was fifteen years ago that Castiel had watched his family die, piece by piece. First his father and eventually his brothers and finally, it had been just him and Samandriel out on the road when Samandriel had been bitten. He had talked Castiel through his own death and asked that Cas kill him before he returned.

Castiel obliged.

That had been in Maine.

Now he was in New Mexico, teaching multiple grades of English. Humanity had won, yes, but there had been a price to pay. People were sacrificed and the Returned still roamed the streets, sometimes in hordes so big that it was warranted special attention.

Dean Winchester’s special attention.

Before the dead started rising, there had been meterologists to predict weather patterns, when to take an umbrella out with them, when to cancel school in the event of something so big, it made the roads unreliable.

Now, they had the Winchesters. Dean and Sam kept most of the nation abreast of what was going on. They bounced signals off what remaining satellites had not been shot down in the ensuing wars and accusations following the dead coming back and actually used them for good. There were informative segments with Ash (known as Dr. Badass) where he taught people how to build their own radios and computers to get their show and what was left of the internet. Garth Fitzgerald IV and Jo Harvelle hosted another segment that showed how to improvise weapons. Bobby Singer and Ellen Harvelle had their own segment of survival tips for the woods. Benny Lafitte had a cooking show, which while it sounded entirely unnecessary in the aftermath of an apocalypse, had saved Castiel’s tastebuds on more than one occasion. They had guest spots and speakers and a man who called himself President, but Castiel couldn’t remember the last time he had voted in an election.

But the people that were mainly on the screen were Dean and Sam. Sam hosted the news, trying to keep people informed. Dean was the man of the hour, every hour. Much like metereologists, he predicted events. The weather was not one of them. Using satellites and Dr. Badass’ skill set, they were able to predict fairly accurately where and when the largest hordes would hit towns. To say that he had saved lives was an understatement.

And if he was kind of hot, well, that was just icing on the cake in Castiel’s opinion.   

Castiel jumped on his bike and pedaled towards his school. He passed a few kids and their parents and waved at them. He raced a few of his students and enjoyed his ride to school. He parked near the front and headed into the school and his class. He high fived a few of the students and tossed his bag onto his chair and turned to his whiteboard. He began to write the day’s agenda and whistled under his breath while he did so.

Anna stuck her head in just as he was finishing up. “Did you watch the report this morning?” She asked.

“I did.” Castiel confirmed.

“What do you think?” She asked, tugging on her hair.

“I think we should probably cancel drinks this weekend. Maybe stay in. Order some Chinese food. Watch some Netflix.”

She snorted. Ordering food and Netflix were a thing of the past, a thing they often reminisced about. “I was going to check out my supplies here and at home. I’m going to make a checklist, head out to the general store later. Would you like to come with me?” She asked.

“Love to.” He said with a quick grin. “Balthazar joining us?”

“I think he needs some supplies for his office. You know he likes to stock up before a big one hits.”

Castiel nodded. He looked to the back of his classroom where his stockroom was and made a note to check on it during his lunch break.

Ever since the first attack, the attack that had decimated the human race, it was law to have a stockroom in every room that people worked, lived and learned in. After Castiel and Samandriel had almost died (the first time) from starvation, this was a rule that Castiel took very seriously.

During lunch, he walked the perimeter of his stockroom, writing down what it was he needed, what he should get if there was enough at the store room and then optional items. He chewed on his sandwich and checked his wallet to make sure the appropriate cards and ID were there for the trip later. His students were unusually subdued and Cas knew that oncoming horde was on everyone’s minds. He didn’t mention it though; these students had been through enough without having to be reminded every day that they still had not won the war, that the killers of their families were still there. School was often the only respite some of these kids had.

When school was out, Anna stopped by his classroom, bag over her arm, munching on an apple. She waited patiently while he gathered his things and when they left the school, Balthazar was already loading Castiel’s bike into the back of his monstrous truck.

“Cassie.” Balthazar said with a grin.

“Hey, Balthazar.” Cas said and was swept up into a hug. Balthazar had been the one to find Castiel in the woods, hungry, in shock, starving. He had gently guided Castiel back to the land of the living, as it were, and they helped each other immensely in the ensuing years. In their small village, Balthazar and Anna were the closest thing he had to family. After the thousands of miles they had travelled and the things they had endured, they were family. They were also the only ones that could get away with casually touching Castiel. It wasn’t something he spoke of often, but people learned quickly that Castiel shied away from casual touches.

“Let’s do this.” Anna said and threw her bag into the truck and climbed in. She sat in the middle, Cas sat next to the window and Balthazar drove them in. At the gates of the general store, which was more the size of two very large warehouses, a soldier took everyone’s ID and nodded at them. “Novaks. You are missing one, aren’t you?”

“Gabe had tutoring today.” Castiel supplied.

“Well, hopefully he can get in later tonight. Prepare early.” The soldier said. The three in the truck nodded, the man made a note on his tablet, grabbed three papers from the inside of his small tollbooth, handed them over along with pens and clipboards and sent them through.

Balthazar, Anna, Castiel and Gabe were not blood related. They were known as the Novak family by name only because when they had come together, it had been a bond that was greater than that of blood. It was a bond forged in violence and protection and loyalty and sacrifice. The four of them had protected each other when they had no one else, they had cared for each other when there had been no hope and now, as neighbors and co workers, they were a tighter knit group than if they had all been born of the same parents. Taking the same name and claiming relation to each other had simply been a matter of formality. They received looks of skepticism often, especially with Anna’s flaming red hair, Balthazar’s accent, Castiel’s dark hair and Gabriel’s much lighter looks but no one dared to say otherwise.

Balthazar drove in carefully, watching for smaller children that liked to wander around in the parking lot. Castiel and Anna waved at a few of their students and Balthazar nodded to a few patients and saw two of his nurses already pushing a cart inside.

The idea of people getting rations based on need had come down from the government, one of the very few things that had actually stuck. Everyone, upon birth, was issued a ration card. Each card was loaded up with the necessary credits for the person and, when needed, they headed to the mall that was at the center of town to stock up on supplies Parents or guardians were responsible for their childrens rations until they reached the age of twelve when, along with school, they were issued their first weapon and had mandatory combat training. Castiel hated that the children had so little time to be children. But if it were between that and death, Cas would choose the mandatory training..

Inside, they each got a cart and headed straight for the non-perishables. They each checked how much each of them was allotted and began to load up. Once they were done there they lugged their carts over to the medical supply area. Cas and Anna were only allowed to go so far in, as they were not medical personnel. Once they had their ibuprofen and band-aids, they pushed their carts off to the side and sat down to wait for Balthazar who was allowed much farther in, escorted by an armed guard and pharmacist. By the time he came out, Anna was dozing off against Castiel’s shoulder, having acquired the truly amazing skill of being able to fall asleep almost anywhere and in any position. Cas gently nudged her and she woke up immediately, wiping at her mouth. They made one last stop at the water section where they handed over the IDs once more to the young woman there who scanned it and gave them a time that water would be dropped off at their places of employment and residences.

It was an efficient system,  implemented by those that chose to live in their small town.

Once done, Balthazar dropped Castiel and Anna off at the school and despite the darkening skies above them they all quickly unloaded their supplies. They would properly organize them the next day. Anna and Castiel helped Balthazar at his office as well, one of his nurses lending a hand while Balthazar locked up the important medical supplies and narcotics in a safe. Balthazar dropped Castiel off at his apartment and drove down the street to his own apartment, Anna across the street from them. Yes, they all loved each other dearly but they had once spent ten months in a single room together, trying to wait out a horde. They had more than enough quality time saved up.

That night, Cas slipped his favorite machete under his pillow, checked to make sure his front door was locked and slipped into bed. He fell asleep within minutes.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Dean, dude. It’s nine o’clock. Let’s go.” Sam whined. He was half lying on the desk across from Dean.  

Dean checked his watch and sighed. “All right, all right. Just one last imaging. I promise.”

He opened up the larger window on his computer and looked through the images of the large red cloud shifting ever south.

“How many do you suppose there are in there?” Sam asked, shuffling over to Dean’s side of the desk leaning over his shoulder, studying the same red cloud.

“At least two thousand. Probably closer to three.” Dean muttered.

“Is there any sort of guard in Farmington?” Sam asked.

“Just the usual sort. Nothing big.” Dean shook his head. “Most of them are in Asheville. Bigger population.”

“Shit.” Sam muttered, pushing his hair back.

Dean nodded.

“When will it hit?” Benny asked from the doorway of the newsroom, drawl slowing his words down.

“Probably Saturday afternoon if this pace keeps steady. If not, early Sunday morning.” Dean said.

“No troops?” Jo asked from her desk.

“All in Asheville. Farmington has a decent enough guard, but they are only a town of about five hundred.” Dean replied. “They’ve got weapons enough, but only one doctor, fifteen nurses, twenty teachers, and the rest help run the town. Oh, they’ve got plenty of roughnecks out there too, working the oil patch but-”

“Two thousand Returned are marching on their little town.” Bobby said roughly.

“Closer to three thousand.” Ellen said.

Bobby sighed. “Why are we all dancing around it. Ask Dean. Ask Sam. Then we can pack up and start recording from the road.”

Sam and Dean traded glances. Their little news station, that had started as an internet radio show warning others of their info and encouraging listeners to call in with their own, had blown up once humanity had gotten its hold on the world back. Now they had their own crew, vans for news when it was happening right in front of them, and satellite imaging. They were the new face of news and it took a lot to take one of the Winchester brothers off the air.

“It’s two thousand miles away.” Sam said, looking at his watch. “We can take everyone here including Garth and Ash, and we could make it in about thirty hours, no breaks, except to switch drivers.”

“It’s Wednesday night, so that would put us at what?” Ellen asked, tapping on the screen.

“Early Saturday morning. 4 AM, at the earliest.” Garth piped up in the back. “7 AM at the latest.”

Sam and Dean locked eyes. They had a full conversation in less than twenty seconds. Sam was the first one to get up. “I’ve gotta go home and get a change of clothes. It’s nine now, let’s get everyone back here by ten thirty and we should be out by eleven.”

Dean raised a fist in the air. “Two vans. Garth, if you can, get them all loaded up.”

Garth pulled a duffel bag from beneath his desk. “I’m already packed, compadre. I’ve got the vans. Should I clean out the locker too?”

Ash peeked his head up over his four monitors and over his desk. “I’d also like to bring along some computers.”

“Yes to the weapons locker, Garth. Ash, no more than three computers this time, yeah?”

Dejected, Ash nodded and hung his head. Dean knew it was all an act. He was probably going to sneak another three in his own bag and forget clean underwear.

“All right.” Sam said. “Let’s get to it.” He glanced over at Dean and nodded to the door. Dean met him there as he was shoving his keys into his pocket and pulling his coat on.

“Are you going to bring Ruby?” Dean asked.

Sam rubbed his thumb over his wrist. A nervous habit from a fucked up childhood, it was something he unconsciously reverted to when he was thinking about something. “She could stay here. She’s doing better.”

Dean took hold of the wrist that Sam was rubbing restlessly. “Bring her. She’s a crack shot. Leave her, if you think that’s what would be best.”

Sam nodded. “I’ll bring her. She doesn’t like being alone.”

Ruby, for the most part, had been a part of the boys lives since Dean was twenty one and Sam was seventeen. She had saved their lives from a high point in a tree and when they had finally coaxed her down, they realized that she could not be left behind. Not only was she a hell of a sniper, but she had been alone far too long with only the worst of humanity in front of her. Sam and Dean had been able to provide a safe spot for her and tried, for years now, to show her only kindness and respect but there were still times when she slipped back into the young woman they found sneering at them from the top of a tree.

“Good idea.” Dean said. His brother was hopelessly in love with Ruby and Ruby loved Sam fiercely, in her own strange way. She even showed Dean a strange amount of affection from time to time. She found it easier to be around women than men, showing more physical affection to Jo and Ellen than to Bobby. Dean clapped Sam on the shoulder and said, “I’ll see you in a bit.”

He headed out to the parking lot that was guarded by both a chain link fence and a few sleepy guards. Boston had been cleared of most of the dead for a few years now, but security was still high in demand. He nodded to the man at the front door and stopped at the gate to explain to the man there the plan for the next week, maybe ten days. Mr. Colt looked mildly concerned but nodded anyway, promising to keep the station locked up tight. Dean thanked him before heading back to his own place.

Sam and Ruby had moved out a year ago but coming home to an empty house still made the back of Dean’s neck prickle unpleasantly. He snapped on his lights and still marveled at the small switch that lit up his studio apartment. Out of habit, he locked the door behind him and checked the windows before going to his bedroom and changed out of the suit and tie he normally wore for work. He sighed as he pulled on his favorite jeans and work boots, an old tshirt and a hoodie. He laced his boots up and began to pull out long sleeved tshirts and jeans from his closet. He folded them neatly into his duffel bag, remembering his father’s instructions to get the most amount of room in there. The last thing Dean slipped in there was his beat up laptop and a camera. He slung it over his shoulder, went downstairs and climbed in his car. He checked the gas tank and made sure he had a full tank before going back to the station.

He checked his watched.

10:10 PM. Right on schedule.

Ellen and Jo and Bobby were already loading up the van and as soon as he parked, he heard Bobby unlatch the trunk of his car and begin to load up whatever else wasn’t going to fit in the van. Sam drove up only moments later and Ruby stepped out of the old beater that Sam drove around town and hugged Ellen fiercely. Ellen hugged her back and Ruby pulled Jo in for the hug. Jo, not one for physical affection so much, hugged her as well before letting her go and stepping back. Ruby’s dark hair was loose around her shoulders and she ran her fingers through it while talking to Jo. Jo laughed and nodded and Ruby spun around and sat down on the ground. Jo stood over her and began to braid her hair quickly and efficiently.

“You’re right.” Dean said as Sam and Bobby approached him. “Ruby is doing better.”

Sam nodded. “She still has nightmares.”

“Who here doesn’t?” Bobby asked.

There was a soft silence in the unanswered question.

“Are we all set?” Dean asked finally.

“Ash has like, six computers.” Garth reported, slowly joining their group.

Dean sighed and clapped him on the shoulder. “Sometimes you have to pick your battles, man.” He nodded to the van. “Let’s get moving. Sam, Ruby, Jo and Garth will ride with me. Everyone else ok in the van?”

There were murmurs of assent.

When everyone was situated with Bobby at the helm of the other vehicle, Dean heard the familiar hum of Jo’s camera turning on. Sam and Dean turned to look over at her.

“Any words for the camera, Dean?” Jo prompted gently.

“Farmington, we’re on our way to you. Here’s to hoping that we get there before you company does. In the meantime, take care of each other.” Dean said. He flashed a smile, turned on the car and they left the station in Boston, Massachusetts. 


	3. Chapter 3

“So. Utopian societies.” Cas started, holding up the The Giver in front of his class of twelve sixth graders. “Why are they a good idea?”

“People aren’t hungry.” A small voice came from the back.

“Everyone has a home.”

“Education.”

“Money. Kinda.”

As they gave their answers, Cas wrote them up on the board. “Good.” He said nodding. He glanced outside and most of his class followed his gaze. A guard, young even by their standards, passed the window. The school was a priority to be protected. “Now, can you tell me why they almost never work?”

“Because someone decides they want something different.” The same small voice came from the back.

“Yes.” Cas said, pointing to the girl at the back. Emma. “This is what we call-”

“Variables!” The entire class shouted at the same time. Cas chuckled. He had been drilling this into their heads for the last three days.

“Yes!” He shouted back, pumping a hand over his head. “Exactly.”

The bell went off just then, signaling an end to their day. “Does everyone have someone to walk home with?” He asked as the students packed up their bags. One of the first rules of the small town, children do not walk anywhere alone.

Most nodded but Emma stopped at his desk before leaving. “Mr. Novak, I don’t have anyone to walk with.”

Cas nodded and hefted his bag full of papers to be graded on his shoulder. “Not a problem. Let’s go talk to Mr. Tran, see if he has anyone on duty that can walk with you.”

In the courtyard of the school, Cas flagged down Mr. Tran, the young man who had walked by their window earlier. He was in charge of the guard around the school, and while Cas thought Mr. Tran should still be in school himself, he ran a tight ship.

Mr. Tran jogged over. “Hey, Mr. Novak.” He said jovially.

“Hey, Mr. Tran-”

“Kevin, please.” He corrected for what felt like the eighth time.

“Sorry, Kevin. Emma here doesn’t have anyone to walk home with. Do you have anyone who would be willing to walk home with her?” Cas asked, placing a gentle hand on Emma’s shoulder, above her purple and black backpack strap.

“Sure do. Charlie would be happy to.” Kevin grinned. “Let me radio her here. If you don’t want to wait Mr. Novak, I can stay here with her.”

“No, it’s fine.” Cas gestured to his messenger bag. “I’ve got all my homework with me.”

Kevin nodded and unclipped his walkie from his belt and radioed for Charlie. Moments later, a cheerful looking redhead strode up in the black and green uniform of the guard. She waved at Cas who waved back.

“Mr. Novak. And this must be the young lady, Emma?” Emma ducked her head. She was sometimes painfully shy. “Oh, man. But that is a cool backpack. You gotta tell me where you got it.” Charlie continued and held out her hand. Emma looked up at Cas who nodded. Emma slipped her hand into Charlie’s.

“I made it.” Emma said softly.

“No way!” Charlie said and grinned at Cas. “That is amazing.” They turned away and made for the treelined street and Emma turned once more to wave goodbye. Cas waved and headed for his bike.

At the gate, he stopped to checkout with Kevin.

“Will you be holding classes Friday?” Kevin asked, checking his tablet after scanning Castiel’s ID card.

“I plan to. Are there people not showing up on Friday?”

Kevin shrugged, a noncommittal gesture out of character for him. “You know how it is. And this is one of the biggest hordes we’ve seen. I’ll have extra staff here, pulling some from the night crew. Just in case you were wondering.” Kevin offered.

“I’ll be here. I might bring my own supplies from home just in case.” Cas threw a leg over his bike and adjusted his bag. “But the forecast said that the horde won’t hit until Saturday.”

Victor Henrickson walked up just then. He spoke in a low drawl, belying his reflexes and fierceness. “Doesn’t hurt to be prepared.” He said softly. He handed his ID card to Kevin who checked him out too. He glanced back at the school as another guard locked up behind him. Victor was the principal of the school and his primary concern, like everyone else in the town, was the children.

“I also got word that the news station is coming here.” Kevin said, handing the card back to Victor.

“That so?” Victor asked, raising an eyebrow.

“They broadcast from Boston.” Cas said.

“And they are on their way. They are broadcasting from the road.” Kevin said. He reached into his small tollbooth/office and flipped on a TV. You could see Dean Winchester driving, saying something and cutting to a screen with a map on it. It would occasionally cut to Sam Winchester who was in the seat next to him.

“Huh.” Cas said. His stomach fell to the vicinity of the cement he was standing on.

Victor frowned. “Should make for an interesting weekend, if nothing else.”

Cas and Victor walked in the same direction but once the street curved away to Castiel’s home, they exchanged quiet goodbyes and headed off in separate directions. Cas made it to his apartment and locked the door behind him. He clicked on his tv and got his messenger bag out and dropped it on the couch to grade later. Cas pulled the lid off his slow cooker and the smell of his roast simmering all day filled the air. He poked at it and decided to give it another hour. In his bedroom he changed into sweatpants and his favorite hoodie.

“Looks like Asheville will be cleaning up a mess for the next couple weeks.” Sam Winchester said as Cas entered his living room once more. He was in the front seat of an older but lovingly kept car, in the passenger seat. He was craned around as much as he could. “The horde there, one of the biggest ones with conservative estimates coming in at around seven thousand, is still pounding away at the outer walls of their defense.”

The camera cut away from Sam’s face and pictures flashed over the screen as Sam narrated. Cas had to wonder at their setup for having such a flawless cut away. “Asheville’s population is one of the south’s strongest holds there. They are about fifteen thousand in number with every abled bodied person over the age of twelve trained to this very situation.” A quick video showed an organized front taking out the lines and lines of dead at their fence. It cut to another video of doctors and nurses just behind them, checking constantly on soldiers, herding tired ones away and commanding officers selecting the next in line to the front. So far, the soldiers were looking to be in their late twenties to early thirties. It was a good line, solid and so far, no one was panicking or breaking formation.

“Good for them.” Cas murmured. He went over to his wall of DVDs and Blu Rays to pick out a movie for the night. He knew better than to watch the news all night. It only resulted in a sort of spiral that ended in depression. He settled on the Indiana Jones trilogy but stopped to finish the segment off.

“Looks like Farmington will be hit late Saturday night.” Dean Winchester said, taking over for his brother. The camera shifted and from the angle, it was probably Sam behind the lense. It was different, seeing the Winchesters look like this. Dean appeared more relaxed and only occasionally glanced at the camera. Behind him, past the window, scenery sped by. “And we’re headed your way. I would strongly advise the residents of the town to get ready for a long haul. It seems like our estimates of three thousand were not accurate. Looks like the horde is gathering strength and will top out closer to five thousand.” He was driving but he risked a glance over at the camera. “Weapons, food, shelter.” He reminded everyone. “Take care of each other.”

Castiel slipped his DVD into the machine and the last thing he saw of the segment was Dean’s worried eyes.

The rest of the night, Castiel spent grading papers and quietly listening to his movie.


	4. Chapter 4

A few hours later, Dean braked on the side of a lonely road. All the roads were lonely, these days. It was about seven o’clock but he had been driving all day and doing the occasional forecast while driving.

“Sam, can you take over for a while?” He asked, gesturing to the wheel.

“Yeah.” Sam said, stretching. He had been able to nap off and on most of the day when he wasn’t broadcasting.

Dean got out of the car, heading to a nearby bush to pee. He used his flashlight to make sure the area was clear because the last thing you wanted to do was whip it out with a dead person at your feet and you unaware. He finished up and headed back to the car. He slumped in the front seat and waited for everyone else to get back in, the van waiting for them patiently.

A few moments later they were headed out and Dean began to doze almost immediately. Before falling asleep completely, he felt someone drape something across his shoulders and smelled Ruby’s perfume. He cracked his eye and looked down to see Ruby’s favorite blanket around him. He smiled and snuggled down and fell asleep completely.

Sam risked a look behind him and saw Jo passed out on Garth’s shoulder as he gazed out the window to his left and Ruby smiled at him. Sam smiled back.

“Sam?” The radio came over his drifting thoughts a few hours later. Dean snored next to him and in the back Garth and Jo were both asleep and Ruby twitched awake at Sam’s name.

“Go ahead, Ellen.” Sam replied.

“Baby, we got some news.” Ellen said after a moment.

“What’s up?” Sam asked.

Dean muttered something in his sleep and pulled Ruby’s blanket closer to him. Ruby leaned forward to hear better. She hooked her chin over the back of Sam’s seat and he could feel her warm breath on his neck.

“The horde in Asheville is turning away.” Ellen said.

“That’s great.” Sam said after a moment. He glanced up at the stars, hoping she wasn’t going to say what he was expecting.

“Maybe.” Ellen’s voice was hesitant.

“What is it?” Sam prodded.

“Asheville is only a hundred and fifty miles from Farmington. It looked like they were headed south and hopefully to the border of Mexico, but-”

“But they are heading east, aren’t they?” Sam said softly.

“They are.” Ellen said.

“How long?”

There was a long pause and Sam was about to ask them again when Ash’s voice came over the radio. “It will take them sixty hours to get from Asheville to Farmington.”

“From the east.” Dean said gruffly, coming awake. He rubbed at his eyes and frowned. “And they have one coming from the north.”

“Shit.” Ruby said softly.

“Shit.” Sam agreed.

 


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Cas chose his wardrobe carefully. A dark blue turtleneck, thick khakis and boots. He packed an extra bag with overnight stuff; he had gotten caught in the school more than once overnight without a toothbrush before and had found the experience exceedingly unpleasant.

In front of his building, Gabriel and Anna waited on their own bikes, a sign of solidarity. None of them would be going anywhere alone in the next few days.

They talked about their classes on the way to work, nodding and waving to parents and kids alike. It looked like most of their classes would be full even if everyone had a grim look on their faces. With soft reminders at the doors not to leave alone, the three of them headed off to their own classrooms.

The children were quiet that day and as the last bell rang, Cas made sure Emma had someone to walk home with again. Charlie appeared once more and the relief on Emma’s face to see a familiar face to walk home with was obvious.

Gabriel, Anna and Cas walked with their bikes beside them, the brisk autumn air stirring their hair. Cas was reminded of that first summer, with all the bodies rotting in the humid New York air. He swallowed back the memory before tuning back into Anna and Gabe’s conversation.

“We could all stay at Balthazar’s.” Anna said. “He already asked me to clear it with you guys. I know I’m going to be there. I hate being alone when this shit happens.”

Gabe glanced over at Cas. “His last renters moved out of his upstairs place, yeah?”

Anna nodded. “Yeah. If we hurry, we can consolidate all our things tonight and get over there before anything happens.”

Cas chewed on his lip. He hated leaving his apartment but numbers made the only kind of sense in this world. He finally nodded. “If we take Balthazar’s truck, we could do it all at once.”

Anna dug in her pocket and pulled the truck keys. “One step ahead of you, bro.”

Cas smiled. “We’ve got work to do.” He said.

They started immediately with Gabe’s apartment. They boxed up as much of his canned food as they could, bagging the rest. Gabe grabbed his game console last and some clothes. Cas had to remind him to bring his toothbrush as an alarming amount of Gabe’s “food” was actually sugary candy.

Anna’s place was next, and she admitted to hoarding some of the bottled water they were allotted each month and showed them her stash. In the middle of packing her things, Balthazar showed up and began helping. Anna also managed to shove some blankets and books in the truck last minute. Castiel’s place was last and the amount of food they had to pack was exhausting. Gabe selected many of his DVDs to bring along with him and carried most of Castiel’s board games down the street to Balthazar’s as nothing else, including Gabe himself, could fit in the truck.

The sun had set but they weren’t the only ones gathering their forces. People on bikes with bags slung over their shoulders were heading to other houses. SUVs, trucks and vans were packed to the brim, some headed out of town, others headed to friends or families houses. Cas spied quite a few people on rooftops with sniper rifles and waved to a few of them; they all waved back quite cheerfully. Guards in groups of three or four walked the roads and sidewalks, helping the occasional person.

This was their world now, gathering forces, food and water and waiting for the storm. It was the new normal and had been for close to fifteen years now. Cas could barely remember his own family’s home, climbing into his bed without checking the front door and windows more than once. He could barely remember cell phones, the terrifying speed at which technology developed, sushi delivered to his doorstep, road rage, circuses, falling asleep because of boredom, police officer uniforms-

The Old World, they called it.

Cas didn’t miss it much.

At Balthazar’s door, they began to unload their things, Gabe stumbling up the steps to place the games and DVDs in the living room. Balthazar’s house was the largest, actually separated into four different apartments. He rented them out to people who were looking for a place to crash but a lot of them moved on, unable to stay in one place and put roots down after so many years of running. It was fine, the nomadic lifestyle. But their small family liked Farmington, their jobs, the people there. The steadiness there reassured Cas that there was still some good left in the world. He liked that. He could relax into that reassurance.

Once the food and water were put away and most of Anna’s blankets were distributed throughout the house, Cas set to making dinner. He shooed everyone out of the kitchen. It was his time to relax, and he turned the radio on to Dean Winchester’s familiar voice.

“-no need for alarm. We have been in contact with the armed forces in Asheville and as soon as the situation there is under control, they are headed your way.” There was a pause and Cas could practically see Dean’s eyebrow knit in concern. He was always concerned. He was always trying to warn people; to save them. “For what it’s worth, my crew and I are headed your way, Farmington. Take care of each other.”

Sam’s voice came on the air next and Cas put the knife down he had in his hand. Balthazar joined him at the counter. “For those of you who have just joined us, our reports are showing a large piece of the horde from Asheville is coming to Farmington within in the next sixty hours. This is a conservative estimate, but it is showing another three thousand heading towards-”

There was a sharp crack from outside and Balthazar and Cas headed for the living room where Gabe and Anna were watching a movie. They both stood when they heard the gunshot, all four of them grabbing a gun at the front. They exchanged looks and Gabe wordlessly looked at Anna and then the stairs. She nodded and ran up the stairs, light as a cat. Balthazar raised a hand and placed a hand first on Gabe’s shoulder and then Castiel’s. He would open the door and Gabe would go out first, clearing the way left and then Cas would go next, clearing the way right. Balthazar would be last out, taking anything out in front of them. Gabe and Cas nodded and Balthazar opened the door softly. Gabe went first, followed silently by Cas. Balthazar was right behind them and Cas noted that they were not the only people silently exiting their homes. Victor, across the street, was crouched in his pajamas on his porch. Missouri and her daughter next door held a similar position. Balthazar whistled once and they heard the return whistle of Anna above them and two more down the street.

“Where did it come from?” Balthazar asked.

“I don’t know.”

Across the street, between Victor’s house and the one to the left, there was a rustle of the bushes that separated the two properties and everyone immediately trained their guns on it. There was a grunt and a small cry and Victor was leaping over his porch railing and Balthazar was crossing the street.

“Stay here. Cover.” Cas said to Gabe. Gabe nodded.

Cas went after Balthazar who was standing next to Victor now and all of a sudden, Charlie, the red headed guard from the school stumbled out of the bushes, pulling Emma with her. They were both gasping and Charlie turned to the men behind her. She slowly put her weapon down and urged Emma to do the same. They held their hands out.

“Are you hurt?” Victor asked.

“Emma’s ankle.” Charlie said.

“Are you bit?” He asked next.

“No.”

“We need to check you both.” He said seriously. Charlie nodded and Emma huddled next to her waist. “We’ll go to Missouri’s house, ok? She’s nice.” Victor promised. “She might even give you a cookie.” He stage whispered and Emma nodded into Charlie’s coat.

“Bring that child over here!” Missouri called out.

“We’re coming, ma’am.” Victor said in a long suffering voice.

The five of them crossed the street to Missouri’s house and into the light of the porch. She ushered them in swiftly, her daughter closing the door behind them.

The living room was well lived in and warm. Painted in warm earth tones, Castiel felt almost immediately at home. Missouri took Emma’s hand and led her to the kitchen with promises of soup and other goodies. Her daughter followed behind closely, a hand on her pistol. Victor and Cas turned to Charlie who was already taking off her jacket and outer shirt.

“What happened?” Cas asked.

“Emma lives in a home. Pretty big, seven or eight other kids there, all older than her. The people are nice enough, busy with so many kids and homework and all that. The lady has been pretty sick and the two oldest have been taking care of things best as they could. The lady’s husband is out at the oil patch for at least the next week, near as they could tell. They talk to him over the radio almost every night, reporting in and making sure he’s ok.” Charlie paused to look over at Emma who was seated at the table, Missouri wiping her face. The three adults could see the tear tracks on her face. “When I dropped her off today, it wasn’t the same. Lights weren’t on. Couldn’t hear any music. I told her to stay by the fence, I was going to talk to her oldest two siblings, I guess you could call them.” Charlie held her arms out for Victor and Cas to inspect. No bites. She lifted the hair off the back of her neck, nothing there as well. “I went in and it was-” She shook her head. “Like the houses before. Before we knew anything.”

Victor and Cas understood. Cas nodded and Charlie began to untie her shoes.

“None of the kids had survived. Looked like the lady expired sometime during the night, reanimated during the day when Emma was at school, took out the two oldest and as each child came home-” Charlie shrugged. “I locked the back door but Emma came in as I was checking the windows. I could hear them all upstairs and as we were going through the front windows, two of them came up from the basement. We went out the side door but that led straight to the backyard. High fence, kid with me,” Charlie kicked off her shoes and began to unbuckle her pants. “I went for the woods.” She kicked her pants off, spun around for Victor and Cas and pulled her shirt off. Bruises, cuts, dirt, but no bites. “We got lost.”

“Is the house contained?” Victor asked as Charlie began to pull her clothes back on.

Charlie sighed. “I didn’t get the front door. There was no way to get to it.”

Victor pursed his lips and nodded. “Anything else?”

“Nothing.” Charlie said.

Missouri and her daughter had already checked Emma who was chowing down gratefully on a sandwich and some soup.

“I need to go check in with Kevin.” Charlie said. “I missed my last check in and if I miss one more, they’ll send people out looking for me.”

“Why didn’t you radio in?” Cas asked.

“One of the kids slammed me into a wall. It broke.” Charlie shook her head. “Rookie mistake. Sometimes I wonder how I’m still alive.”

“We’re glad you still are.” Cas said. He nodded over at Emma. “She was lucky too.”

Charlie smiled. “I need to get back to the headquarters. Can Emma stay-”

“Of course she can stay!” Missouri said, sounding a little peeved. “Kind of question is that. Can she stay. Course she can stay, what are you thinking, taking this little girl out at this time of night…” Missouri continued to mutter and set about the kitchen, banging pots and pans for some unknown purpose.

“I guess she can stay.” Victor said.

Charlie shot one more grateful look their way before heading out the front door, machete swinging against her leg, one hand on her gun. At the last second, Cas stuck his head out of the door. “Hey Charlie?”

She turned, her hand raised to signal a couple of guardsmen down the corner. “Yeah?”

“Let us know you got in ok. And if you need a place to stay, we’re right next door.” He said and pointed at the house.

She bit back a smile. “Sure thing. Thanks Cas.”

He nodded and headed back inside to collect Balthazar who was deep in conversation with Victor. They both turned to him.

“Do you think we should go to the house?” Balthazar asked. “If only for containment purposes.”

“No. It’s an unnecessary risk. I’m sure Charlie will explain what happened to the other guards but I don’t think we would be remiss to inform a few on the block what happened either.” Cas said. “We’ll go home, get some rest and in the morning we’ll report in and see if there is anything we can do.”

“The horde is supposed to hit early tomorrow morning. You think we can put it off that long?” Balthazar asked.

Cas chewed on his lip. “Fuck.” He said softly. “Fuck, we have to take care of it right now.”

Balthazar nodded and looked at Victor, his eyebrows raised in a silent offer.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” Victor muttered, sounding like he already regretted the offer.

“We just need to get Anna and lock up.” Cas said. He holstered his gun and turned back to Missouri. She beckoned him over and quietly asked what he had planned and nodded when she heard the plan.

“Take some guardsmen with you.” She advised. “Emma will be fine here.”

Victor squeezed her hand. “You’re an angel, Missouri.”

“Get out of here.” She said, pushing them both out the door.

Balthazar whistled for Anna and Gabe joined them on the sidewalk.

“So what’s the plan? We just swagger on over and sanitize the entire place?” Gabe says after he and Anna were caught up.

“Yeah.”

“How many kids were in there?” Anna asked

“Seven or eight, from what Charlie said.” Balthazar replied. The lights flickered on overhead. They all glanced up.

“We can head over there, get a few guardsmen from the school.” Cas suggested.

Balthazar and Gabe nodded. Anna swung her rifle up and around her shoulder.

“Let’s do this.” Balthazar said.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day, Benny was in the back of the Impala, munching on a sandwich and watching the scenery pass by.

“I don’t mean to sound like a complete downer,” Benny started suddenly, interrupting everyone’s lunch, “But this just seems like a bad idea. Farmington has guards. They know the drill. Anyone worth their salt will know to stay indoors. They all have supplies.”

Sam shrugged and nodded. Ruby eyed Benny.

“When have you ever bowed out of a fight?” Dean asked from the front seat.

“I’m not saying we bow out-”

“That’s exactly what you are saying.” Jo argued.

“Seven thousand against us doesn’t seem like great odds.” Benny said slowly.

“And the entire city of New Orleans against you was?” Ruby asked.

“Or the entire state of Kansas against us?” Sam threw in.

“What’s really eating you, man?” Dean asked.

“Just seems like a far away place for a fight.” Benny said. He tossed his sandwich out the window, a look of disgust on his face. “And the people in that place, they’ve survived the last decade. They’re tougher than the average human.”

“We’ve got to save as many of us as we possibly can.” Sam said.

“Did we pull you away from something, man?” Dean asked.

“Nah. Just-” Benny glanced out the window. The scenery was becoming more and more desert like. “Just wondering.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

The house was a mess. There were a total of eight people trapped in there. They hadn’t gotten out the front door. By the time that Balthazar, Gabriel, Anna, Cas and Kevin all deemed it “clean”, they were tired, aching and smelled awful. Kevin clapped them all on the back as he walked away, promising that it would be cleaned and they wouldn’t have to worry about it.

The four of them stumbled back to their own place, barely speaking. Once inside, they all stripped down to their underwear and checked each other for bites and then headed off to each of their own small space, with a shower in each apartment. Cas turned on the shower, grateful his “brother” was the town doctor and able to afford such a place. He scrubbed at the black, flaking blood and watched it dissolve in the water. He scrubbed his hair and got out, debating whether he should shave or not. He finally decided against it, having done enough that day.

In the overly large living room/bedroom/dining room/kitchen, he got dressed, one eye on the TV.

“Looks like we will be in Farmington just hours before the horde hits.” Dean Winchester was saying on the tv. “The second wave will hit about ten hours after that. We hope that Farmington is packed and ready to go.” He looked over at the camera that Sam Winchester was no doubt holding. “Take care of each other.”

The screen went black and the lights dimmed in the house. It was a cue. Some of the first Returned had arrived. Looks like Dean Winchester and Company would not be arriving before the first of the horde.

There was a knock at his door and he shoved his feet into some boots and grabbed a hoodie off the chair on his way to the door.

Balthazar stood there. “Kevin has asked that we have one person on block watch from each house. Four hour shifts, I’ll start and then Anna volunteered. If you’ll take next watch, then Gabe can grab the one after you.”

They both headed down the stairs where Gabe and Anna waited. “Got it.” Cas said. He headed towards the kitchen. “I’ll make you something to eat, bring it out when it’s done.”

Balthazar smiled, eyes crinkling. “Thanks. And hey, if I see your favorite forecaster out there, I’ll be sure to get his number for you.”

Cas rolled his eyes and headed for the kitchen. Anna helped Balthazar on with his high necked vest, long sleeved shirt and jacket before he headed out. He kissed her on the top of her head lightly and paused at the door.

“Keep the radio on.” He said gently. Gabe nodded and held it up. Cas smiled at Balthazar. “I’ll be back in four hours.”

Balthazar turned and left.

The three remaining watched as he retreated down the steps and joined Victor out on the sidewalk.

Anna went upstairs to get some sleep.

Cas went to the kitchen.

Gabe retreated up to his own room.

 


	8. Chapter 8

“Boys?” Bobby said over the radio.

Sam snatched it up before Dean could get to it. Last time he had tried to drive and got distracted by some story Ash was telling, they almost died. “Yeah, Bobby?”

“Looks like the party hit before we could get there. Farmington guard by the name of Tran just contacted us over Garth’s blog to say that the first of it has already hit.”

“Shit.” Dean and Ruby said at the same time.

“How far out are we?” Sam asked.

“Not far. Maybe an hour.”

Dean looked in the backseat at Benny and Ruby. “They should be fine for an hour. They’ll be getting the first ones in.” Benny said and took out a map of the city. “They might want to keep an eye on the river and the surrounding areas. That’s where they might have the most trouble.”

“Did you get that, Bobby?” Sam asked.

“Garth is sending the message to Tran now.” Bobby said. There was a moment of silence and then Bobby came back on, “Tran says he has guards posted there. If we could head straight to the school, apparently that’s where they have their HQ. That’s where we can figure out what’s what before going in all hell’s bells.”

“School.” Dean said and nodded. “Got it.”

Sam put the radio back down on the dash where Dean kept it and looked out the window. He understood why Dean was doing what he was. It was an extension of what their dad used to do, but with a tad less rage. Sam didn’t remember their mom; actually Sam didn’t remember much of anything resembling a healthy environment. Their mom had been one of the very first victims nationwide; they had managed to stave off the full blown pandemic for another ten years, but the way Sam and Dean had grown up was nothing less than to prepare them for what John Winchester knew was coming. He was thankful for that small piece, thankful that their mom’s death could mean that they could live and help others survive too.

But what Dean did, when he got like this, could be scary. Sam should have stayed home with Ruby but he knew that Dean was going to go to Farmington and knew that he might lose control. Sam liked to think he could help keep him grounded, keep him in check.

Yeah, and maybe Sam liked to take out a couple of these walking sacks of meat too.

His girlfriend didn’t do too bad either.

He felt her hand on his shoulder and she tugged lightly at his hair. If anything, Ruby kept him grounded. She had been alone for so long that bringing her back to a semblance of normality had been a struggle. More than a few people had suggested that letting her go it alone might not be a bad idea. But Sam never gave up, dug his heels in. And when he dug his heels in, Dean was right there, helping him. It had been like a tug of war, whatever memories Ruby kept locked away pulling her away from Sam, and Sam on the other end pulling her back to him. And Dean pulling just as hard to help him where he could. Ruby had come back, she had met Sam halfway, but it was still a process. Sometimes, in big missions like this, Sam felt torn between who he should be watching out more for; Ruby or Dean.

They were almost to Farmington, about ten miles outside of it, just past a smaller town that had been abandoned, when they saw the first of them. They were a group of about twenty and would have been enough to make anyone less prepared turn around. Instead, Dean slowed to a halt and Jo and Ruby hopped out. Jo was armed with a machete and Ruby had her trusted rifle. She plucked off the faster ones while Jo went after the slower ones. Sam got out as well and started pulling the bodies off the road and onto the shoulder. Benny and Garth eventually joined the girls and they began to move at a much slower pace. There was nothing worse than hitting a Returner and then being trapped in your car when the rest of the horde realized that you were trapped inside.

 


	9. Chapter 9

“I thought that most of the horde wasn’t supposed to hit until later this afternoon?” Anna asked as she shot another one through the head.

“Forecasting isn’t an exact science.” Cas said, sighting another Returner and shooting it.

“There he goes.” Gabe said from behind them, rummaging through their cooler. “Defending his crush.” He reached over and adjusted the blanket over Anna’s shoulders and put a bottle of water near Castiel’s reach. Balthazar snored behind them, a baseball cap over his eyes.

They were on the roof of his house, taking shots at the Returned milling around the yards and street of the neighborhood. The sun was out and if there were any birds around, Cas was sure they would be singing.

“You know it’s true. If we went just by what forecasters say, we’d all be dead. They’re great but you have to look out for yourself.” Cas replied and shot two more in quick succession.

“Man!” Victor cried out from across the street on his own roof. “Give the rest of us a chance!”

“Watch out for Missouri’s house.” Anna called back. Victor made a face at her but sat back down, steadying his rifle and took out one that was climbing Missouri’s steps.

It would have been a pleasant day and the atmosphere resembled that of a community picnic. Albeit with dead people walking around.

“You think they are on their way?” Gabe asked, scanning the horizon. He could see several roads from their vantage point.

“I thought I was the one with a crush.” Cas reminded him.

Gabe shrugged. “Cuz Sam is real hard on the eyes.”

Their radio clicked on and Kevin’s voice crackled through. “Oak Street? Come in.”

Gabe grabbed it. “We’re here, Kevin. What can we help you with this fine morning?”

There was the slightest hesitation. “The outer circle is getting bombarded. We’re thinking of pulling everyone back to the school. How is your street looking?”

The three of them exchanged a look and Balthazar sat up, rubbing at his face. He looked down at the street and frowned. “Fuck me.” He said.

“Our street is not looking all the great, sir.” Gabriel replied calmly. There were four shots that rang out and one man down the street fell.

“My recommendation is that we pull back to the school. It is more easily defended.”

Everyone looked at each other but Castiel spotted a woman climbing the steps to Victor’s house and killed her.

“Cas?” Anna asked.

He sighed. It wasn’t the greatest plan. They could be caught in there for days. They would have to load up all their resources and even that wasn’t the part that was making him hesitate. What was making him worry was the fact that everyone in town would be in one place which wasn’t always the greatest plan. But they weren’t helpless. Pooling their resources meant that knife fighters, like Balthazar, could team together to take out the slower ones and they wouldn’t have to waste their bullets. Sharp shooters like Anna, Cas and Victor could man the roof. Children without parents would be defended and taken care of, like Emma.

“We’re going to need help.” Cas finally said.

Gabriel radioed Kevin back with their request.


	10. Chapter 10

The outer ring of Farmington was more than overrun. It was a goddamn mess. They halted outside the thousands of Returned that were surrounding the town. Their mindless groans were setting Dean’s teeth on edge. They all pushed towards the town, towards where all the people were centered. If Dean had to guess, they were downwind of them and that was why they didn’t turn to them immediately.

“This is a fucking mess.” Bobby said diplomatically. Ruby stepped forward with her knife and dropped a teenage boy that was charging at them. She stepped aside neatly as he fell at her feet. There was no way that they would be able to get in.

“Do you think they have a tank?” Sam asked. It wasn’t unheard of. And having a tank could clear the way for them to get inside the town.

“Let’s see if we can Tran on the horn.” Benny suggested. He made his way back to the van and they all turned to the horde that was still descending on the town.

Moments later, Benny came back. “No tank but they have a couple of pretty big trucks that could do the trick. Said he’ll have them out here within the hour.”

Dean nodded and leaned against his car. “So, we’ll just wait here then.”


	11. Chapter 11

Once they had a plan, loading everyone up in their car and making a line for the school wasn’t that hard. Balthazar’s truck went first since it was the largest and easily cleared the way for everyone else. Victor’s truck was somewhere in the middle in case the horde closed in on them, he was able to clear the way for the people behind them. The ride was bumpy and precarious and more than a little disgusting, but they made it two blocks and around the corner in less than thirty minutes, half the time they had estimated.

When they arrived, three quarters of the town was waiting to help them unload. Farmington was nothing if they didn’t work together. Guards stood around the gate, machetes in hand. The red brick and wrought iron fence was more than adequate to take the weight of the horde. Charlie directed people to where supplies needed to be placed and Emma wrapped herself around Charlie’s waist. Charlie didn’t try to detach, but put an arm around her shoulders and continued working with the little girl attached to her.

“Novak! Henrickson! Got a favor to ask.” Tran said, jogging over. There were circles under his eyes and Cas was struck once more with how very young this man was.

The siblings and Victor turned to him.

“The Winchesters are here but they can’t get through the last ring of dead outside our walls. They asked if we had access to a tank but the closest we have is these two trucks of yours. Now, if you don’t want to go out there, I get it, but I have to ask to borrow your vehicles.”

Everyone looked around. This day was turning out to be more and more dangerous.

“We can go.” Balthazar said. “Give us some more ammo. Maybe a couple of guards. We can go.”

Victor nodded.

“You sure you’re ok with this?” Tran asked again.

“We all pull our own weight. Those people have access to satellites, maybe we can get an advantage, put this thing down faster than we would otherwise.” Anna said.

“All right, pack up.” Kevin consulted his map and made a red X on it. “They are on the northernmost entrance into town, coming almost from La Plata. Just inside of Aztec. Got it?”

They nodded and headed for their trucks.

“I’ll take point.” Balthazar said. “Cas will be in the back, Charlie will ride shotgun. Anna, if you could go with Victor and ride in the back, then we can have Gabe in the front.”

Everyone nodded.

“All right, let’s head out.” Victor said, turning back to his own truck.


	12. Chapter 12

They heard the trucks before they saw them. The first to push through the horde was a large, lifted silver truck with a blonde man behind the wheel. Beside him was a redhead with short hair and in the back, literally strapped into the bed of the truck was a man in slacks and a white button up shirt, his hair wild from the wind. He had a rifle in his his hand and was expertly picking off strays while the belt that strapped him into the bed of the truck helped hold him steady. Behind them, another man and a blonde man drove up in a bright red truck with another red head, this time with much longer hair tied back, strapped into the back of the truck. She also continued to pick off the dead that got too close to the trucks.

The silver truck stopped in front of Dean and Sam who straightened up.

“We’ll go first.” The dark haired man in the back said. “You follow us and then your van. Victor will follow them. We’re going to head straight to the school.”

Dean opened his mouth but the man raised his gun and let out a single shot. A teenage girl that was missing half her shoulder and was too close to Ruby, fell into a ditch.

“Got it?” The man asked.

“Uh, yeah.” Dean said and cleared his throat. He signaled for everyone to get back into their vehicles and climbed behind the wheel. When the man with the dark hair saw that everyone was set to go, he knocked on the hood of the truck with the flat of his hand and they headed back the way they came, the road already thinned out for them. After rolling over the first few bodies and noticing Dean’s pinched face, Sam turned to him.

“He seemed nice.”

Dean glanced over at Sam. “Really? Now, Sam?”

“If not now, when?”

Dean groaned as the Impala bounced off a particularly large body. “Maybe when I’m not playing bumper cars with my baby and dead people?”

Sam chewed on his lip, contemplating that for a moment. “All right. OK. Fair enough.”

An hour later, they made it safely inside the school. The parking lot and building were surrounded by a red brick and wrought iron fence, and the parking lot had quite a few trucks and sedans in it. There were a couple of bikes near the entrance of the building and Dean was thankful to be out of the car for awhile. He stood and stretched, listening to his back pop. He watched as both the long hair redhead and the dark haired man unstrapped themselves from the back of the trucks. It looked like flat, nylon ropes that were adjustable and could be clipped onto a similar looking belt around the people in the back of the truck using carabiners. Dean had to commend the ingenuity. The guy jumped out of the back of the truck and nodded to the blonde man that was in the front and the other woman. She was wearing a guard’s uniform.

“Dean Winchester.” Dean said to the dark haired man.

“Hello, Dean. My name is Castiel Novak. My brother Balthazar,” He pointed over at the man driving the large silver truck, “One of the guards here and a friend, Charlie Bradbury.” The guard raised her hand. “My sister Anna was in the back of the other truck. Victor was the driver and my other brother Gabriel.”

Dean quickly introduced their small group. They made the rounds and Castiel ended up near Dean.

“So you guys have quite the next few days.” Dean said conversationally, looking out the fence. The guards strolled along what looked to be a set amount of feet, taking out as many of the dead as they could with their machetes.

“Well, looks like you are here to ride it out with us.” Cas said, his eyes following Dean’s.

“We like to help out where we can.” Dean said. He leaned up against the car. He squinted against the sun on his face and Castiel tried very hard not to notice the crinkles in the corners of his eyes. “So what are we doing here? Just riding it out?”

“So far, I believe that’s the plan. The school is easily defensible and we have pooled our resources. Our sharpshooters are on rotation up on the roof, eight I believe in six hour shifts, our guards are on the fence, also in six hour shifts, and the rest of us are taking care of what we can.”

Dean nodded and turned around. “Hey, Ruby. They’ve got sharpshooters up on the roof if you’re interested. We can find Tran if you want and see if he can put you on rotation.”

The dark haired woman perked up visibly at that. She had a bag over her shoulder that she had yet to put down since they entered the gates. “I would like to do that.” She said to him and glanced over at Sam.

“Let’s see if we can find Tran. We should probably talk defense with him anyway, Supplies, tech, see what needs what.” Sam said and Dean nodded. He pushed himself up off the car and they made their way to the front of the school. He paused and looked back at Castiel. “I thought- are you coming?” He asked. It already felt strange not to have Castiel next to him.  

Castiel looked over at his brothers and sister who were herding people into the gate as they came in. Charlie had long since gone back to the guard and now the only thing left to do would be to unlock his or Charlie’s classroom and start setting up a small homebase for them in their. It was important that he get that done.

“Yes, I’ll come along.” Castiel said.


	13. Chapter 13

In the front conference room of the school, Kevin had projected a large map of Farmington up on a blank wall. There were red parts and green parts and a few yellow parts. He was sitting and talking with a few of his officers when Castiel led Sam, Dean and Ruby in. His face immediately lit up in a friendly smile.

“Reinforcements.” He said and offered Sam his hand.

“What we could bring, anyway.” Dean said and shook Kevin’s hand.

“Any help is welcome. Have you been shown around yet?” Kevin asked, glancing over at Castiel.

“No, not yet. We wanted to come in first, see what we could help with and then get the grand tour.” Dean said.

“Sure.” Kevin said. “We’ve got a couple gaps on the fence patrol later tonight-”

“Can I go with the sharpshooters?” Ruby interrupted.

Kevin raised his eyebrows. “Sure thing. Let me just grab our roster, see when we can slide you in.” He made his way over to a wall that was line with clipboards and pulled one out. “Looks like we got a late one, 12AM to 6AM?” He asked.

“I’ll take it.” She replied. “Is there somewhere I can lay down?” She asked.

Kevin looked over at Cas. “Yeah, if Anna doesn’t mind, the Winchester group can take her classroom. Castiel and his family will be right next door and Victor should be down the hallway as well with Missouri and her daughter.”

Cas nodded. “I’m sure Anna will be fine with it.”

“Cots are already distributed, so go ahead to the classroom and get settled in.” Sam and Dean turned to follow Cas and Ruby before Kevin stopped them. “If you two don’t mind staying for a few minutes, I was hoping to speak to you about a couple of things.”

Dean raised his eyebrows. This guy was young, but commanded respect like he was born into it. “Yeah, that’s fine with us.”

“Ruby?” Sam asked.

She waved a hand away and readjusted the bag over her shoulder.  “I’ll be fine.”

Sam looked over at Cas. “I can stay with her if she needs anything.” He said easily. “And like Kevin said, if you need anything my family and I will be right next door.”

Sam nodded hesitantly and stepped back away from the door. Ruby only glanced over her shoulder once as they walked away. Cas led her down the hall and around the corner, grateful they were close to the front. Sam and Ruby seemed slightly on edge, being away from each other. Ruby didn’t appear comfortable being away from Sam. Cas was silent on the walk over to the classroom but once they reached the door, which had been left ajar for their convenience, he gave her a small smile.

“So this will be you guys.” He said and pushed the door open. Inspirational quotes from famous authors were all over the walls and the desks had been pushed against the walls for the cots to have room. There was a small pile of green military blankets on one of the cots and another pile of small pillows on the cot next to it. Ruby dropped her bag on one of the cots. “If you need anything, the front office should have it. Towels, or whatever. If you want to shower, I can take you down to the gym really quick. What else? We follow our regular schedule that’s posted up on the board. Breakfast at seven thirty, lunch at eleven thirty, dinner, which isn’t posted, is at five thirty. If you’re on duty at any of those times, don’t worry, you’ll get your stuff delivered. Everything is pretty much on a community property rule unless its your own personal stuff or you can just ask whoever is around. We’ve done this a couple times before.” Cas paused. “Can I get you anything?”

Ruby was silent for a moment and there was a look in her eyes that Cas had only seen once, when they had picked up Gabe. He had been alone for almost seven months. “Just water, please.”

“Sure.” Cas said, shaking out his keys and opening the store room that was at the back of the room. He pulled a couple of cases out and left them there. He grabbed two bottles for Ruby.

“If you see Sam, can you tell him I’m resting?” Ruby asked as Cas made his way to the door. She was grabbing a pillow and a blanket from the pile.

Cas was quiet and asked, “Are you ok, Ruby?”

“Sometimes, I wonder.” Ruby replied gently and laid down on the cot. She rolled over on her side and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. Castiel could see a dismissal for what it was.

 


	14. Chapter 14

“We have a technology room, if you’d like to get set up there. Should have everything you need.” Kevin said. He pointed down the hall. “Just down there. Is there anything else you need access to?”

“No, just some numbers, where you’ll need us, what kind of restrictions you have on the media.” Sam said.

“Restrictions?” Kevin asked, his brow furrowed. Victor entered the room just then.

“Yeah, there were a couple of towns that didn’t want us filming their commanding officers talking to subordinates.” Sam said with a shrug.

Victor snorted a laugh. “Why the hell not?” He asked.

“The guys were assholes. Treated their people like dirt. Didn’t want that getting out, in case some people saw the broadcast and decided against their town as a place to settle down.”

Victor and Kevin exchanged looks. Population was important for any leader of any small town; the more people they had, the easier it was to defend their place in the sand. Sam called it King of the Mountain Syndrome.

“No, no restrictions. If you interview anyone, just make sure they aren’t on duty.” Kevin shrugged and looked at Victor who nodded in agreement. “I think that’s the only thing that we ask. As long as the residents are ok with it, it’s fine by me.”

“Great.” Sam said.

Castiel entered the room then, catching Sam’s eye. “Ruby asked that I tell you she’s in your room, resting.”

Sam nodded. “If we’re done here, I’d like to go sit with her.”

“Sure thing.” Kevin said. “And thanks, for coming. We have people but-” Kevin gestured helplessly. “Any help is welcome.”

Sam smiled and nodded. He left the room quickly, following Castiel’s instructions to the classroom. Cas made his way to the door, Dean right behind him. People were walking through the halls, some speaking quietly to each other, risking glances at Dean. He was the closest to a celebrity anyone had probably seen in over a decade.

“Would you like your grand tour now?” Castiel asked, spotting Balthazar and Gabe turning into the cafeteria.

“That’d be great.” Dean said.

Cas nodded to the front doors. “Let’s start outside.”

They left the building and stood on the steps and watched the activity outside. Some people were bringing their goods in, with guards help. Others were on fence duty, keeping as many of the Returned off of it. It was a good gate, solid, but they didn’t want to test it.

“We have three ways in and out. Front right there is operated by a guard in the booth. There is always at least two guards in there at any time, but they seem to treat it like a clubhouse, so we always know that its monitored. They have coffee, a TV, a radio, snacks in there. That’s where you can usually find most of the guards if they aren’t on duty. The others are emergency only uses and can only be opened by either the key that Victor has, Kevin has or inside the booth itself. They are chain link fences, so they normally have a pair of eyes on them at any time. We try to keep as many Returned off the fence as well, since its such a weak point.” Cas started down the steps. “This used to be a Catholic school and the bell tower makes an excellent place for a couple of lookouts or sharpshooters.” He pointed upwards and waved at his sister. She waved back. Dean raised a hand as well. Cas started around the corner of the school and down a small hill. There was a playground there that had some kids playing on it. “Recess duty. Basically, whenever. The kids want to play, they come out here. An adult should always be out here with them, obviously. The kids will pick whatever adult they find first so,” Cas shrugged, “Finders keepers.” Cas headed around the side of the building and gestured to the six tanks that sat there. They were huge, taking up much of the field in that area. “Propane tanks for the school. Basically, our lifeblood until we can get rid of all of them. Usually our power comes from a nearby plant, but its shutdown during times like this. We don’t have the people to staff it but it can’t run itself either.” Cas nodded at the Returned that were moaning and watching them from the gate. They turned back to the school and made their way up a side entrance. “All doors are kept open at all times.” Cas said. They stopped outside a large glassed in room. “Library. Community property. If you’re bored and looking for something to read, pop on in and see what you can find. We also have movies and games in there as well.” Cas raised his hand to the woman behind the counter. “Miss Missouri here is the keeper of all books and entertainment. Stay on her good side.” Castiel winked. Missouri rolled her eyes.

They left the library and ran into a small group of kids of about nine.

“Mr. Novak!” One of the boys cried out. “Are we in a utopian society?” He asked, waving a book around.

“Well.” Cas said, stopping in the middle of the tour, the children gathering around him. They pushed Dean to the outermost part of their group as though he didn’t exist. The kids open and shining faces turned up to Cas took Dean aback. They didn’t seem hardened like the other children he had met. These children, despite having their biological parents or not, were treated as a precious commodity, something to be held dear and precious. Dean took the opportunity to pull out his camera to do some candid filming. “Why don’t you tell me what you think, so we can discuss it?”

 _Here? Now?_ Dean thought to himself but didn’t say anything, just shifted his position to get a better vantage point. He had that itch to do something, to prepare but one look at the enraptured kids and Castiel’s laser like focus on them, he knew any protestations he might have would fall on deaf ears.

“I think we might be close.” One girl said from the back.

“Why do you think that?” Castiel asked.

“We live in a small society, closed off from the world. Everything is rationed out to us, and our community fights for the greater good rather than the individual purpose.” The girl replied. Dean let out a low whistle at that. These kids were sharp.

“Good point.” Castiel said nodding. “Great answer. Any other opinions?”

“I don’t think we are.” A boy from the back said. He was slight, skinny arms and baggy jeans. He looked a little like Sam did when he was that age. Even his hair flopped in his eyes. “I mean, everything Krissy is saying is right, but our choices aren’t made for us. Mr. Henrickson and Mr. Tran don’t tell us how many kids we can have, they don’t tell us what to eat, where to live, what books we can’t read.” He paused and looked down at his shoes.

“Anything else, Ben?” Castiel encouraged gently.

“I think a utopian society comes when the individual choices are taken away. I think Krissy is right. Here, no one has taken away those rights. Yeah, we have to share stuff, but that’s part of the community that we have to live in.”

“Good.” Castiel said.

“In a world with the Returned, we have to survive by numbers. We have to stick together. They outnumber us and our only weapon against them is being able to think.” Another boy from the back pointed out.

“Another good point, Jeremy.” Castiel said. “So what do we pull away from this?”

“That there is a fine line between any government controlled society and a super scary utopia.” Another girl piped up from the back.

“Exactly.” Castiel said. He paused and looked at faces around him. “Any other questions?”

“Is that the guy from the news?” A boy asked from the back.

“Yes it is.”

They regarded Dean for a moment before they left Castiel and Dean to forage for some kind of entertainment in the library.

“Some of my kids.” Castiel said as way of explanation.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were a dad.” Dean said, studying his beat up camera in his hands studiously. Kids typically meant a wife or girlfriend.

Castiel looked confused for a second. “No, my students. I’m a teacher here.”

“Oh! Ok. Wow, I was gonna say you are a very busy man to have nine kids.” Dean snapped his camera shut with an easy grin to hide his relief.

Cas laughed. “No. What about you? Any kids?”

Dean rubbed the back of his neck. “No. The whole apocalypse thing put a damper on my family planning.”

Castiel nodded sagely. “That it does. Shall we?”

Dean stepped up next to Castiel and they made their way down the hall. They entered a large gym that was crowded with people and Castiel checked the time. “Lunch.” He said, nodding. They got in line and Castiel introduced him to a few other people while they waited in line. Once there, they were served cornbread, stew and a salad along with a dinner roll. They found a small table away from most of the people and ate in companionable silence.

“Do you like what you do, Dean?” Castiel asked suddenly.

Dean considered the question for a moment, spearing a few pieces of lettuce on his fork. “Sometimes. I like seeing humanity being reborn into something better. I don’t like predicting all these bad things happening to people.”

“But it helps.” Castiel urged.

“Sometimes. Sometimes it feels like I am just informing people that death is coming.”

That left Castiel speechless for a moment before nodding. “I can see that being a downside to your job.”

“But I help sometimes. Like now, being here.” Dean gestured to the people around them. “If we had stayed at the station, I would have felt like the lowest piece of crap on earth.”

“Why?”

“Because I should help.”

Castiel furrowed his brow at his cornbread. “You can’t save everyone, Dean.”

Dean sighed. When had the conversation gotten this serious, this fast? He barely knew the guy. “Tell me about yourself.” Dean said, instead of replying to Castiel’s last comment. “Your family. Your job. How did you end up here?”

“Well.” Cas said, taking a drink of water. “I used to live in Maine. Big family. When the pandemic struck, we were ok for a little while. We lived in a town not much bigger than this and my brothers and I were used to hunting. So we were all right, for awhile. It’s hard to say when everything went to shit for us, because it feels like one day we were all right and then the next day I was dragging my brother Michael off my brother Raphael. They were all gone after that. Well, except my brother Samandriel. But he was so fragile.” Cas shook his head. “From the very beginning, he didn’t handle the way things were very well. He depended on me for everything, which was fine, but-” Cas stopped himself, shook his head.

“How old were you?” Dean asked.

“I was thirteen when we left. Samandriel was six.”

“How long was it just the two of you?”

“Four years.”

Dean shook his head. He heard stories like this all the time, but it wasn’t ever any easier to digest. “You were just a kid.”

Cas smirked but there was no humor behind it. “We didn’t get to be kids. I know I didn’t. How old were you when you started taking care of your brother?”

The easier question to answer would have been _Do you remember a time when you didn’t take care of Sam?_

_No._

“It’s always been me and Sam.” Dean said. “You done?” He asked, gesturing to Castiel’s near empty plate.

“Yeah.” Cas said. Dean stood and took their plates over to the garbage bins and emptied them out. He met Cas by the exit and they continued their walk. They twisted through some halls until they stood outside two classroom doors. “That’s you.” Cas said, gesturing to the class on the left. “And that’s us. You’re in Anna’s classroom. She was in the other truck, shooting from the back. This is mine.” Cas said nodding at the other class. Dean stepped forward and peered in the small glass window on the door. Ruby was on her side, her face buried in Sam’s chest. Sam had one arm around her, the other slung over his eyes. Dean rolled his eyes.

“Where to now?” Dean asked.

“Well, you’ve seen everything, so unless there is something you need…” Cas gestured helplessly.

“Man, what I need is a shower.” Dean said honestly.

Cas snapped his fingers. “The gym. Grab your stuff, we’ll head on out.”

Dean snuck into the classroom, grabbed his duffel bag that he assumed Sam left in there for him and followed Cas back down to the same gym where they had lunch. Down an overlooked hallway and to the left, Cas showed him where the towels were kept, “One per person, per week. Otherwise that’s a lot of laundry.”, and Dean found himself alone for the first time in about four days. He stripped, grabbed his small bottle of soap and turned the hot water on. Surprisingly, he actually got it.

Dean figured that helping these people out meant that he would be basically camping for the next month; mediocre food, no hot water, little or no electricity, grumpy people, unhappy children.

Instead he found the opposite. These people in this very small part of the world had figured out a way to exist with most luxuries that other parts of the country didn’t know about. The small community seemed to be led by a school principal and a very young man who guarded them. They helped each other and if Cas were any kind of indication, they learned from and taught each other. Dean wondered if there was a chance to get back to a kind of normal that he used to remember.

He got out of the shower and dried off. He put his clothes on and headed back out to his room. Dean passed by a computer room that Ash had commandeered, children bustling around him while he spoke to them about different parts of the country they had traveled to. When he got back to his room he found Ruby and Sam were still asleep and now Benny and Jo had claimed a couple of cots as well. Dean dropped his bag and grabbed a pillow and blanket and looked out the window. The guards were still there, walking the perimeter. He spotted Garth in a coat two sizes too big for him that used to belong to Sam. He spotted Castiel with his brothers and smiled. His new friend was nice. His new friend was more than nice, but that was something for a less complicated and overwhelming day.

Dean laid down and closed his eyes. He was asleep within moments.

 


	15. Chapter 15

“So what’s he like?” Gabriel asked, a sucker in his mouth. A young boy passed them and Gabe’s hand shot out. He stopped the boy and wordlessly handed him another sucker from his pocket. The boy lit up and ran for the playground, shouting about his new found treasure.

“I hope you have enough for another kind of horde.” Balthazar said, watching the young boy speak excitedly to his friends.

Gabe snorted. “You do know who you are talking to, right?” He turned back to Cas, squinting. “So, Cas. What’s he like?”

“He’s nice.” Cas said after a moment.

“You hesitated.” Balthazar accused.

“It’s hard to encompass an entire human in one sentence.” Cas said. He paused and then glanced at the grass beside his feet. “He’s more than nice.”

“Do you like him?” Gabe said, pulling out a bag of candy from his pocket as a stampede of children headed their way. Cas blinked as he watched the kids near them. They were happy and functioning and healthy but less than fifty feet from them and separated by only a fence was a mob of dead people, moaning and grasping for the young. It was a nauseating dichotomy.

“Yes. I find it very pleasant to talk with him. He’s a good listener.”

The kids gathered around Gabe, their faces shiny with hope. Ever the math teacher, he shouted, “First person who can tell me what seven times eight is!” And he began to toss out the candy. He had passed out almost all the treats but one little girl remained, eyes wide with tears. Gabe knew that she didn’t grasp math the same ways the others did. He suspected she had a learning disability and maybe before the Returned there would have been a specialist to help her, but as it was she only got extra help from Gabe.

The little girl, Sarah, turned away and Gabe looked to Cas for help. “Sarah!” He said sharply. She turned back, tears already on her face. “Yes, Mr. Novak?”

“Tell Mr. Novak here what a dangling participle is.” Cas smirked at Gabe. “Can you believe he doesn’t know?”

“A dangling participle is intended to modify a noun that is not actually present in the text.” Sarah sniffed and her chin tilted up. Cas plucked a sucker from Gabe’s grip and smirked at him.

“Here you go. Thank you for teaching Gabe something for me.” Cas said. Sarah gave him a watery smile before returning to the playground.

“You always know exactly what to tell them, don’t you?” Rachel said from behind Balthazar. The three brothers turned to her.

“Sarah doesn’t learn math the way the others do. But she learns English grammar better than most adults.” Cas replied primly. Rachel did not like him. Nor did her sister, Hester.

“The world doesn’t cater to those that cannot keep up.” Rachel said.

“Do I look like the world?” Cas snapped. “No. I am a teacher. And I am proud of my students.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “At least someone is proud of them.” She strolled away, her eyes on the fence.

“You know, if we tossed her and her sister over the fence, I’m not sure they would be terribly missed.” Balthazar mused.

“I know they wouldn’t be.” Gabe said and handed a cherry sucker to Cas, who crunched on it angrily. He glared at Rachel’s retreating back. He considered what kind of consequences there would be for throwing someone to the horde. He shook his head and turned away.

“Let’s go inside.” He muttered.

 


	16. Chapter 16

Dean woke up and noted that Sam was already gone but Ruby was still dead to the world. Her ability to fall asleep and stay asleep was a talent envied by many. He stretched and glanced out the window at a quickly darkening sky and decided to see what was going on with everyone else.

People were still wandering around the halls but most of the commotion was coming from the library. Dean stuck his head in to see groups of people gathering together. Victor Henrickson, owner of the the big red truck that had helped rescue Dean earlier, was putting people into groups that ranged in age from five to over thirty. Sam was in a group with one small child, another child that was no more than twelve, a teenager and a young woman. Dean went through each group and noted that they all had five members except for the last group that was looking a little dejected. Victor spotted him and waved him in.

“Perfect timing, Winchester! Come on in.” He called.

Dean, unable to turn down an invitation for what looked like a good time, walked in. “What’s going on?”

“A competition!” Sam called out from his group. The youngest member of his group giggled and Sam lifted him up to the desk. Missouri narrowed her eyes from behind her desk.

“And we are missing one key player for Team Terminator over there.” Cas said from the front of the library. He nodded to the dejected looking group towards the back. “Every team has a member of a different age group. Team Terminator is missing it’s oldest member.”

“Oldest, huh?” Dean said, slowing his walk and stopping in front of Cas. If his gaze flicked down to the open buttons at his throat, he hoped Cas wouldn’t notice him being so obvious.

“The leader, if you will.” Cas amended easily, shuffling the cards in his hands. “If you would be so kind-”

“With a name like that?” Dean said, making his way over to the group and gave them a wink. “How could I say no?” The the children in his group cheered. Dean pointed at Sam, “You are going down, buddy.”

Sam snorted. “Keep dreaming, bro. We all know who has the brains here.”

Dean grinned. “Yeah and we know who got all the good looks.”  

Dean was quickly caught up on the rules of the game. Each team sat behind a desk. The age range was called out and the team member would step up to the desk with a clicker in hand. The question was called out and the team who answered would score a point. The older the contestant, the harder the question. The harder the question, the more points. Castiel was emcee, Missouri kept points on her big board. Winner got first pick at dinner the next night. The audience began to settle themselves down in seats and along the wall and the floor.

“High stakes.” Dean said to Gabe who was leading the team next to his, Team Sugar.

“We take our gaming seriously here.” Gabe nodded.

“I hope the visitors don’t mind taking a beating.” Balthazar said, rubbing his hands together. “I’ve got all my money on Anna and Team Pretty.”

Anna and her team smirked at Gabe and Dean in a frightening display of strength and solidarity.

“Reigning champs.” Anna said, gesturing to her team.  

“You might want to consider my brother. He stores a lot of information away in that gargantuan head of his.” Dean said of Sam and Team Giant.

“New blood!” Anna called out and gathered her team close.

Dean pulled his own team into a little huddle. “Don’t let them scare you guys. I know all of you are going to put them to shame. You’re smart. We’re smart.” Dean looked at everyone in his small circle. “Yeah?”

“Hell yeah!” Said the tiny eleven year old girl with freckles. Dean let out a laugh.

“Hell yeah.” He said.

“If you all are ready, let’s get to it.” Cas said from the front.

The teams turned to face Cas, who was standing behind a podium.

“Age bracket one, to the front please.” Cas said.

The smallest of Dean’s group hopped up and Dean took a cue from Sam and hefted the small boy up in his arms. Anna and Gabe held their own teammates aloft as well.

“What is the closest star to earth?” Castiel asked.

The little boy in Gabe’s arms hit his clicker first. “Proxima Centauri!” He shouted out, gleeful.

Despite the impressed looks the little boy got from almost everyone, Cas had to deny him the point.

The little boy in Dean’s arms, Jonathan he would later figure out, whispered, “I think I know what it is.”

“Buzz in, my man.” Dean encouraged.

“What if I’m wrong?” He asked. Dean looked at him, worried that the little boy would rather remain silent than to risk a win.

“Then we’ll go on to the next question. No problem, man.” Dean whispered back.

Jonathan regarded his clicker for a second longer before finally hitting the button on top.   

“Team Terminator.” Cas called out.

“Is it- the sun?” Jonathan said slowly.

“Yes!” Cas said.

“Yes!” Dean said, giving the kid a high five.

Cas smiled at the two of them before pulling another card from his deck. “Age bracket two. You’re up.”

An hour later, by process of elimination, Dean and Sam were left standing with their teams. Dean couldn’t believe it; his heart was pounding and he was sweating. Sam was rubbing at his wrist like he did when he was nervous and the team gathered around Dean stood close to him. It was like being in a prize fight. Anna and her team were on the sidelines, looking put out. Gabe had already handed out candy as a consolation prize after his team was put out as well.

It was the tie breaker point.  

“Age bracket five.” Cas said, even though both Sam and Dean were already behind their respective desks, clicker in hand. Cas shuffled through his cards, raising an eyebrow at some of them before plucking one card from the middle of the deck and clearing his throat.

“Churchill, Sherman and Panzer all developed a type of what?” Cas asked.

Sam turned to Dean at the same moment that Dean turned to him. With a wide grin, Dean buzzed on. Sam’s eyes widened.

“Dean?” Cas asked.

“Tanks.” Dean replied.

“Correct.”

Team Terminator gave a simultaneous yelp of victory, tackling Dean and almost laying him out over the table he was standing behind. Sam stood still, clicker still in hand. Bobby clapped him on the back. “Next time, son. Maybe the tie breaker won’t be the one question you didn’t study and the one thing Dean did.”

“I just-” Sam gestured to Dean. His mouth was agape.

“We know.” Ellen said, laughing as Dean celebrated with his team.

Ruby showed up just then, nudging Sam’s arm. “I thought you were the smart brother.”

“The one thing-” Sam said, shaking his head.

Missouri and Victor ushered the kids out of the library and down the hall to the cafeteria. Dean stuck around to help Cas clean up the mess. Most everyone had already left, Ruby and Sam the only other ones to stay so that Sam could mourn his defeat quietly.

“Sam seems to be taking the loss quite hard.” Cas noted as Dean collected the buzzers.

“Sam usually wins. It’s like- I don’t know, a given for this sort of thing.” Dean said. “But there is one thing I can and always will beat him on in trivia.”

“Military vehicles?” Cas guessed.

“Most specifically, tanks.” Dean said. He shrugged. “I was obsessed as a kid. I don’t know why. I researched most of them in my spare time.”

Cas opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by two voices screaming from the hallway, “Dean!”

Everyone in the library dropped what was in their hands and ran for the hallway just as the lights dimmed and Victor’s voice came over the PA system. Ash and Garth came barreling around the corner and ran into almost everyone.  

“Can I please have everyone to the gym immediately.” Victor intoned. Everyone looked up at the speaker and turned. “To the gym immediately.”

“What’s going on?” Dean asked.

“There is a huge front. Like, thousands. It’s right on our doorstep.” Garth said.

Ash thumbed open the slim black box in his hands and handed out earpieces to Ruby, Dean and Sam. He put one in his own ear and handed the box to Garth. “Get one to the rest of the team.” He ordered. Garth nodded. “Dean, I’m gonna head back to the computers if that’s all right with you.”

Dean nodded. “Go. Keep in contact.”

Ash nodded and turned back the way he came from only moments earlier.

“Ruby, I’m gonna want you up on the roof. Sam, stick with the kids. Let’s get Bobby, Jo, Ellen on the front and Benny and Garth on fence. Got it?” Everyone nodded.

“Where are you gonna be?” Sam asked quietly.

“Where am I always, Sammy?” Dean asked, with a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes. They were flat and determined, like they always were when it came to the big fights like this. Sam hated it; Dean looked so much like their father when he had that look in his eye.  

Sam didn’t answer, but Ruby did. “Point.”

They entered the gym just then to see the children bunched in the corner with Anna, Gabe and Missouri in front of them. Balthazar was near the front handing out weapons. Ruby, Sam and Dean politely declined, as their own guns and ammo were back in the classroom they were occupying. Cas took his own weapon, and was given three extra magazines. At the front, Kevin and Victor stood on the small stage. Everyone, including the children, were quiet.

“All right, looks like we have some pretty heavy duty crowds out there.” Kevin started. “But we know what to do. We’ve ran the drills and we’ll be just fine. The Winchesters here will split up amongst us, giving support where they are needed. Kids, find your assigned guard and/or adult and head to the roof. Everyone else, you know where to go.”

Dean turned to Cas as the people in the gym began to shuffle about. He saw Sam go to Bobby and the others to inform them where they should go. “Where are you supposed to go?”

Cas grinned and grabbed a machete that Balthazar offered him. “I’m point.” He pointed at the door. “Shall we?”

They headed down the hall to Dean’s classroom where grabbed his own shotgun, his favorite Colt and his own machete. They turned to the front of the building and headed out, silently. They went to the west end of the gate and Dean had to remind himself to breathe. Above them, on the roof of the school, sharpshooters were taking as many out as they could, but it was barely making a dent in the crowd.

The Returned were already at the fence, reaching in for those that had just arrived. They smelled foul; it was a fact that everyone had learned to live except for Cas.

“God.” He muttered, when the full scent of the thousands of dead Returned hit him.

“Hang in there, man.” Dean said softly, wrinkling his own nose in disgust. He reached out and squeezed Castiel’s arm and Cas was startled to find that instead of wanting to pull away, as he always did, he leaned into the grounding touch. It was gone too soon.

They put about five feet between them and began the endless job of working their machetes in between the bars of the fence and into the Returned’s heads.

The time for panic was long past. This was not the first siege on Farmington, nor would it be the last. This was not the first siege on anyone by any means and Dean noted that there was a young girl down the fence from him and Cas, meticulously killing each half returned person as though this was something as normal as picking out the next day’s outfit. He frowned at the thought, wishing that for some, they could have had a semi-normal childhood.

“They weren’t children.” Cas said to him, catching the look on his face. “They didn’t get what we had, briefly.”

Dean slammed his machete into an overweight man that was moaning at him. The black goo oozed out of his eye as he fell to the dirt at their feet. “No, they didn’t.” Dean agreed. “Can’t help but think the whole damn thing is unfair though.”

One of the dead caught Castiel’s collar and tried to haul him closer. Dean cut the woman’s arm off neatly and a shot through her head put her down. Cas turned to the rooftop and Ruby waved at him wildly. He raised a hand back. He then made a strange gesture, putting the tips of his fingers to his chin and dropping his open palm to his chest. He pointed to Anna who said something to Ruby. Ruby said something who made another gesture back to Dean.

“What was that?” Dean asked as they turned back.

“Gabe used to have a brother who was deaf. He knew sign language and he taught the rest of us. Came in real handy when the Returned hadn’t smelled us yet and we were trying to stay quiet. I told Ruby thank you. Anna told me you’re welcome.”

Dean hummed his approval, impressed at the innovative quality that Castiel’s little family had learned to survive with.  

Two more hours passed and Dean’s arm was starting to get tired. He was getting hungry and a little jealous that Sam had gotten the plum job of staying with the kids, as they had all already gotten dinner. Victor came up behind him just then and tapped him on the shoulder. He had two dinners in his hands and two guards ready to take their place while they rested and ate.

“Come on guys, you need to eat.”

“Well, if you insist.” Cas said, exhaustion lacing his voice. He wiped at his face and they stepped away from the fence. They sat against the school wall and doused their hands in rubbing alcohol, sanitizing anything they might have come in contact with. They ate slowly at first, but by the end, they were both practically licking their trays. Ellen walked up just then, another two trays loaded down with more food.

“You are a goddess.” Castiel whispered as she handed him his tree.

Ellen winked at him. “I like him, Dean. I think you should keep him.”

“Don’t give away my plans, Ellen.” Dean said around a piece of bread jammed in his mouth. She laughed and tugged gently at Castiel’s hair before she walked away.

“I thought-” Cas started but stopped.

“What?” Dean asked.

“I thought you were one of those super heterosexual guys that would be grossed out by someone interested in the same sex.” Cas explained.

“Hey, man, I’m an equal opportunity kind of guy.” He winked at Cas. Cas remained unfazed. Dean cleared his throat. “What I mean, is like who or what I like. I don’t put a lot of constraints on it. If I happen to fall for a pretty girl, fantastic. If I happen to fall for a handsome guy, fantastic.”

Cas nodded slowly, chewing on his turkey sandwich. “Your family knows?”

Dean nodded.

“They don’t care?”

“I mean, they care. They care if the person I’m with is good for me, good to me. Do they care if the person I’m with is a guy or girl? Nah.” Dean slowed down on scarfing down his meal and turned to Cas. “Did your family-”

“The people I grew up with convinced me I was going to hell.” Cas looked out to Gabe manning the fence with Charlie. “Gabe, Anna and Balthazar, they-” He swallowed hard and he knew it wasn’t just the turkey sandwich lodged in his throat. “They helped me out. They taught me, well. You know. I wasn’t meant for eternal damnation just because I was a little rebellious.”

Dean opened his mouth to reply, to say that anyone who was as obviously good as Cas was could never end up in hell. If there was a chance that he was, Dean would offer to go in his place. Dean mentally stumbled over that thought and he shook his head. He tried to gather his thoughts and studied Castiel’s profile while Cas stared out at the crowd in front of them. He turned back to Dean and there was the smallest smile on his lips and it drifted upwards to his eyes. “I know.” He murmured to Dean. He nodded.

They remained silent through the rest of the meal and when they were done, they slumped against the wall.

“How much time do we have before we have to go back to the fence?” Dean asked. Castiel leaned over and checked Dean’s watch.

“Ninety minutes.”

“Nap time.” Dean announced, slumping down and closing his eyes,

Cas eyed the fence. “You’re sleeping? Now?”

“Damn right. Screw consciousness. That’s what I say.” Dean said and closed his eyes.

Cas sighed and took his jacket off and propped it under his head. He didn’t think he would be able to sleep, but it didn’t hurt to try.

 


	17. Chapter 17

Seventeen hours later found Cas and Dean at the fence again, both sweaty and tired, conversation having died long ago in favor of keeping a steady pace.

“Dean?” Ash’s voice came over the ear piece. His voice was strained.

“Yeah?” Dean asked. He noticed Jo and Benny perk up at Ash’s voice.

“They’re inside. They’re in the school.”

Dean shot his hand out to Castiel shoulder and jerked him back from the fence. Cas stumbled into Dean’s hand and glared at him. “Where?”

“I’m still in the tech room.” A loud banging came over the ear piece. “I blocked the door but there are three right outside.”

Benny and Jo, closest to the front doors, turned on their heels and ran. Cas and Dean were right behind them, shouting for Kevin.

Visions of hundreds of Returned blocking the halls danced through Dean’s head but it wasn’t as bad as he thought. There were only about fifteen in front of the door of the classroom Ash had taken over and there were five more bodies littering the ground. Kevin charged straight for them while Jo and Benny fell back, training their guns on the dead and taking them out that way. Dean and Cas followed Kevin, slicing and chopping ruthlessly. As they dropped the last one, there was more moaning from around the corner, announcing the arrival of more Returned.

“You two- go to the gym.” Dean said to Jo and Benny. “Make sure nothing is going up those stairs to the roof.” Dean clicked his ear piece on. “Sam?”

“Yeah.”

“Benny and Jo have the stairwell.” Dean said and watched his friends retreat for the gym. He knew that Sam had heard Ash over the earpieces they each had. “But they aren’t there just yet and the hallways are starting to flood. Keep the door barricaded.”

“Dean-”

“Sam, please.” Dean begged, thinking of the kids up there.

There was a sigh. “Keep me updated.”

“Always, little brother.” Dean promised.

He nodded to Kevin and Cas. “We got work to do.”

They headed down the hall and were confronted with what Dean had envisioned earlier. The hall was packed with Returned, pushing and shoving and moaning and stinking up the hallway like they belonged here.

“Fuck this.” Dean said, backing around the corner to where his own classroom was. Cas and Kevin followed him and they each grabbed a rifle from Bobby’s stash. They re-entered the hallway, armed to the teeth. They began to take down as many as they could, backing off when the dead got too close, using their machetes when things got really tight. Sam kept them updated on the situation outside as more and more dead piled in on the fences outside. The kids were under a makeshift tent, most of them asleep, a few older ones helping to keep an eye on the fence.

It was Ben, one of Castiel’s kids, that saw it first. He pointed out first to Ruby the break in the chain link at the very back of the school, at the only vulnerable part of the fence. Ruby informed Dean and Sam and the rest of the team of what was going on as Dean shoved his machete through that of a soccer mom. There was finally a lull, the last of the Returned stumbling over their companions, only three or four left. Kevin raised his rifle and began to pick them off.

“We need to get that hole fixed.” Dean said, slumping against the wall. Cas nodded, rolling his shoulders. Dean reached out and pulled a bit of brain matter from Castiel’s hair and then brushed someone’s burnt skin from his shoulder. He did it the way he touched everyone; casually, unthinking. Kevin waited, shoulders tense, for Castiel to snap at Dean, as he did everyone who was not Gabe, Anna or Balthazar about touching him. Cas said nothing about the casual brushes of Dean’s hand on him.

“We’re going to need materials.” Cas said instead.

“What do we have?” Dean asked. He pushed himself off the wall.

“We’ve got a welding machine and some sheet metal.” Cas said. “In the autoshop and art department. We could weld some of the sheets together, reinforce them. Weld them to the fence.”

“Great, yeah.” Dean said.

“I don’t think we know anyone who can run a welder.” Kevin said.

“Jo can.” Dean said. “Kevin, if it’s all right with you, you and Jo can switch places and then we can do this now.” He shook his head as he heard more moans. “None of us are going to be safe with thousands of them out there and huge hole in our fence.”

“Agreed.” Kevin said. They turned to go back to the gym and ran down the plan with everyone over the ear piece. Kevin and Jo traded places, Kevin standing guard with Benny. Charlie came in to help Cas and Dean guard Jo while Ellen took Charlie’s place at the fence.

Once in the art department, Jo got right to work, pulling on all the safety equipment and snapped her welding helmet on. Cas brought out the sheets of metal while Jo got the torch ready and Charlie and Dean guarded the door. Between the two of them was a large metal cage closed off by more chain link fence.

“Castiel is a nice guy.” Charlie said abruptly.

Dean raised an eyebrow. “He seems like it.”

Charlie was silent for a moment before she said, “I only mention it because he’s a friend. Well, I consider him a friend. I’m closer with Anna really.”

“His sister.” Dean said and he reached down for the bottle of water at his feet.

“Yeah. See, the thing with a guy like Cas, he hardly lets anyone close.”

Dean snorted. “Kiddo, you just described three quarters of what’s left of the human population.”

“No, I mean, physically. I’ve seen him lash out at people for putting a hand on his shoulder.” Charlie watched Dean as he carefully set his water bottle as his feet again. He did not meet her eyes, but watched the hall steadily.

Finally he said, “Its like that with a lot of people. Ruby? Dear god, just to get her to eat in the same room as me and Sam for the first couple weeks was a nightmare. Ash didn’t talk for a month. Garth had to sleep with the lights on, someone nearby. Bobby wouldn’t let Jo or Ellen out of his sight for months. Jo has to have her back to the wall she sleeps. We’ve all got our quirks.”

Charlie nodded. “When things get bad, I always recite the Rings of Power poem.”

“From Lord of the Rings?” Dean asked.

Charlie laughed. “Yeah, it’s stupid. But my dad and I read those books when I was growing up. They were good for me, you know? So I figure, if I get taken down by one of these things, at least the last thing on my lips will be a good memory.”

Dean didn’t reply right away. “Our dad died when I was sixteen. Sam was, god, twelve. But dad was an alcoholic and more of a burden than a help. There was this one time, we were pinned down in this warehouse, just me and Sam. And I shoved him in this closet and told him not to come out. You wouldn’t know it, but Sam was this scrawny little thing, couldn’t hardly put up a fight.” Dean wiped his face with one hand. “I had three guns, three mags each. But I was so scared that I kept missing and it was just- it was hard. The whole time though, I kept reciting the beginning text from Star Wars, A New Hope. So that he would know that it was still me, that I was still ok.” Dean paused and they listened for a moment for footsteps. “Now Sam can’t watch a single Star Wars movie without breaking into a cold sweat and leaving the room.”

Charlie nodded. “Sometimes our best intentions ruin things.”

“Is that what happened with Castiel?”

Charlie paused. “No one really know what happened to Cas. We know that he was the last surviving member of his very large family. That he watched his baby brother Samandriel die in his arms, that he had to put him down himself. He was alone for a couple years, Anna thinks, before her and Gabe found him and Balthazar found them.”

“That’s a long time for someone to be alone.” Dean said. “Did no one try to-”

“We don’t know. He won’t talk about it.” Charlie said softly.

“I see.”

“Do you? Because that’s why I’m telling you, Castiel is a nice guy.”

Dean glanced over at Charlie who wasn’t even watching her end of the hallway. Her weapon was pointed at the ground and she was facing Dean.

“I get it.”

 


	18. Chapter 18

When Jo figured she had enough sheet metal, they were able to get Balthazar’s truck and load everything up. Jo, Benny, Victor, Charlie and Anna were in the back of the truck. Dean, Castiel and Balthazar were in the front. Guards stood in front of the truck, facing the hundred or so Returned that were streaming through the hole in the gate.

“This is a stupid fucking idea.” Anna said flatly.

“Yeah, it is.” Dean agreed.

“We seriously can’t think of anything better?” Benny asked, frowning at the hordes that were dropping from bullets from the roof and the guards in front of them.

“Do you have any ideas?” Dean asked honestly, not looking forward to plunging headfirst into the crowd.

Benny sighed. “I’m gonna regret this.”

Jo slipped the helmet on, Benny and Charlie gripped the sheet metal between them and everyone else held on. “Let’s get this over with.” Cas muttered to Balthazar.

Balthazar moved haltingly at first across the parking lot and the guards walked in front of the truck, killing as many as they could. The sharpshooters were on the roof, taking them down as well. Help on the front fence was doubled to make up for the lack of shooters from the roof. Once they were close enough to the hole in the gate, everyone jumped out, and headed straight to the gap. Victory, Benny, Charlie and Anna killed and pushed as many as they could and established an outer perimeter that would keep others from pushing in on the new barrier while Jo worked. Castiel, Dean, and Balthazar protected Jo’s back while she worked welding the sheet metal to what was left of the chain link fence. The plan was then for them to hop the fence and for the sharpshooters and everyone else to cover them.

It was a shitty plan. Dean was aware.

Everything went smoothly at first. Jo worked quickly and efficiently and everyone was able to keep the Returned back for longer than they thought they could.

But they were tired, they were hungry and they hadn’t stopped in close to twenty two hours. That’s what Sam would remind Dean later on when his big brother would lean into him and weep. Sam would point out that they did everything they could and _Dean, my god, do you know how many people you saved? How many children?_

Dean would know, but he couldn’t save them all.

He never could.

Castiel, Dean, Balthazar and Jo were on one side of the fence. Just as Jo finished, Victor slipped on something, a puddle of coagulating blood, a dismembered limb, no one was entirely sure. He let out a startled yelp when he landed hard on his ass, slicing his own thigh open in the process. The yelp was followed by many curse words and Dean peered around the corner to see Benny and Charlie and Anna separated from Victor. The Returned were like sharks when they smelled “live” blood. The mindless horde attacked, pushing and shoving, their moans turning to howls and Victor didn’t stand a chance. Charlie and Anna screamed and started shooting. Benny swung his machete wildly, trying to get to Victor. Dean aimed for the crowd and Victor screamed on and on. Castiel started shooting from the other side of the sheet metal and Jo screamed in frustration as she tried to hurry.

Then Anna fell.

She was behind both Charlie and Benny and Dean had half climbed the fence in an effort to get a better angle. The sharpshooters were of no help, as the group was behind the sheet metal and they couldn’t see them.

That didn’t stop Ruby from protecting who she could. Dean heard four distinct shots, one of them winging his arm but saw four separate Returned fall. Dean was able to pick off three more that were descending on Anna while she killed another four, before her gun ran empty. She pulled out her machete, but it was too late. A man in a suit grabbed her arm and bit.

Cas screamed and tried to scramble over the fence. Charlie and Benny, seeing now that there was no helping Victor turned back to Anna.

“Dean-” Sam said. “Dean there’s still time. She’s still got time.”

“Cas!” Dean said. “Kill them! Make a path for Benny!”

Cas must have heard the words because he started firing at the crowd around Anna. They dropped heavily around her.

“Dean get off the fucking fence I can’t get a shot!” Ruby said over the ear piece.

Dean dropped back to the ground and ran over to Castiel’s side. “Cas get down, they can’t get a shot off.” Dean said to Cas. Cas turned to him and Dean knew he was walking a very fine edge. “Come on, man.” Dean begged.

Cas dropped next to him and reloaded his gun. There was a single shot and the business man standing over Anna fell. Dean and Cas and Balthazar held back the crowd as Benny and Charlie pushed their way over to Anna who was screaming and writhing on the ground now. Her eyes were glassy and tears spilled down her cheeks.

“Dean, is there still time?” Benny asked.

“It’s our only chance.” Dean replied.

“What are you doing?” Cas demanded, grabbing Dean’s shoulder. Dean looked over at him, unable to find the words for what he was about to order Benny to do.

Balthazar grabbed Dean’s shirt. “What are you doing to her?”

“Dean!” Benny yelled.

“Do it.” Dean said.

Anna was hyperventilating and her eyes were rolling back in her head. Benny looked up at Charlie and shook his head. “Cover.” He ordered. “Ruby, give me cover. I have to do this here.”

“Go.” Ruby said flatly.

As gently as he could, Benny laid Anna flat on her back and placed a knee on her chest. With his left hand he stretched out her right arm where she had been bitten and raised his machete and brought it down hard. Anna couldn’t even scream, but Castiel could.

“What are you doing? What are you doing?!” He screamed at Dean, hitting him in the face. Dean dropped and the world spun but he saw Jo finish and push Cas off Dean and stand in between them. Charlie was screaming the same thing at Benny as he swung his machete twice more before it was done. Benny didn’t answer, his face red from the fine mist of what was left of Anna’s arm. He jerked off his belt and tied it around Anna’s bicep as tourniquet. Balthazar clung to the fence and screamed his sister’s name as she finally, finally, fainted and Benny swung her up in his arms.

“I can’t get over the fence brother. Not with her in my arms.” Benny said, shifting Anna’s weight.

“We can try to clear it for them from up here.” Sam said over the earpiece. “There’s a visual all the way around to the front.”

“Whatever you guys decide, do it quickly.” Ruby said, and there were more shots fired. Jo still stood between Cas and Balthazar and Dean. “She needs a doctor like, ten minutes ago.”

“Clear it. Benny, man, you gotta run.” Dean said. He stood, rubbed his jaw and began to climb the fence. He didn’t look back at Cas and Balthazar as he did, but just landed next to Benny. Jo shoved her gun through the fence at him and Dean picked up Anna’s discarded machete. The gun shots were steady now, piercing the air and dropping the Returned all around him.

Cas dropped next to Dean and looked at him. Dean didn’t say anything and neither did Cas. Charlie edged to Castiel’s side as though approaching a wild animal.

Balthazar started for the fence before Jo stopped him. “We’ve got to get everything ready for her when she gets here. I’m going to drive you back and we’ll set up for her.”

Balthazar’s lips were a thin line but he nodded. “Get her back safe.” Balthazar threatened, his hand shaking as he pointed at Benny.

“Let’s go.” Dean said.

They stuck close to the fence, the sharpshooters following them, Ruby’s voice a constant over the earpiece, telling them when they could run, when they had to stop, and when they had to slow. The group of them made it to the front of the fence where guards were waiting for them in less than ten minutes.

Benny was soaked in sweat, Anna’s blood painting him like a portrait. Dean took her from his arms and ran for the front of the building, Castiel right behind him. They made it to the classroom where Jo and Balthazar had what they thought they might need all laid out. Balthazar’s eyes were tight behind his surgical mask and Jo shot Dean a sympathetic look.

“Lay her here.” Balthazar snapped, pointing to a bed that was covered in white sheets. A nurse stood off to the side and as soon as Anna was laid on the table they began to slip belts around her chest, hips and legs.

“What- why are you-” Cas asked. He was shaking from exertion, bloody and smelled like the dead but Dean couldn’t help but feel his affection for him spike.

“This group has discovered that if you get to a person in time and cut off the limb of the bite, you can potentially save the person.” Balthazar said flatly, plunging a syringe into a bottle of clear liquid and measuring it out carefully. “There was time, but she still might turn. We can’t risk her biting anyone else.”

Cas nodded.

“Castiel, I need you to leave the room.” Balthazar said gently.

Cas didn’t say anything but looked down at Anna for a long moment. “Ok.” He said softly.

“Dean, I understand the call you made and at some point I will thank you, but right now, you need to get out of my sight.” Balthazar said, his back to Dean as he stuck the needle into Anna’s arm and the nurse set up an IV. Jo placed a hand on Dean’s shoulder and they both left.

Bobby and Ellen were just outside the door. “How is she?” Ellen asked, wiping at Dean’s arms and his face with a wet towel.

Dean shrugged. “We don’t know yet. They have her strapped down and Balthazar is going to do what he can.”

Bobby nodded. “I think Benny got to her just in time.”

“How is he?” Jo asked.

“Last I saw, he was puking in the bathroom.” Bobby said.

“I’ll go check on him.” Jo said.

They watched as she left and Ellen and Bobby ushered Dean into the library. “How did they get in?” Bobby whispered. “We walked the perimeter, same as you and Castiel. They had everything set up. Everything was solid.”

Dean sighed and looked around. Other than Missouri watching them suspiciously there was no one else in the room. “I would have to ask Jo, but it looked cut.”

“Cut? Who in the hell would cut a hole in the fence?” Ellen whispered back.

“That’s the hundred dollar question, El.” Dean said. He rubbed his face.

“Go get a shower. You smell like death.” Ellen said. “I’ll see what I can get you from the kitchen. Go.” She said pushing him away.

Dean trudged down the hall and to the classroom where he kept all his stuff. He grabbed a pair of jeans and a new tshirt before heading down to the shower. He was alone in there and stripped off all his clothes. He scrubbed furiously at his body, trying to wash everything away. Once down he got dressed again and as he sat on one of the benches he laid the towel over his head and began to dry his hair.

After awhile he stopped and just let the towel drape over his head. He probably looked like an idiot, sitting there with a towel over his head and face but for a long moment the white of the towel blocked out the stifling heat from the shower, the low hum of talk outside the locker room. He wished it could block out the world and all it ugly death and terrible, stupid choices. But that’s all that Dean was left with, stupid choices and horrible consequences.

He heard the door open and despite being fully aware he probably looked like a crazy person with his towel over his head in the middle of a stifling hot locker room, he did not move.

The person who came in knelt in front of him.

“Dean.” Ruby said gently, pulling the towel off his face. “Dean, there was no other way.”

Dean nodded but didn’t trust himself to speak. Ruby reached up and wiped some water from his forehead but didn’t say anything else. Sam entered a moment later and sat next to Dean.

“They’re going to have to wait. They understand you made the call that you did, but it was still-”

“Terrifying.” Dean whispered. He nodded and glued his eyes to the locker across from them.

It was a universal truth that the Returned were not the only monsters in the world. Good people, like the people here in Farmington banned together because numbers were the only way to survive. But bad people understood that too and made numbers work for themselves. They built hierarchies and would infiltrate towns and steal and murder and rape and lie until the town was a crumbling mess of what it used to be.

It was easy to see how Dean’s small family could be mistaken for them after what happened to Anna.

“How is she?” Dean asked.

Sam shoved a bottle of water into his hands. “They’ll have to wait till morning to know for sure. Right now she is fighting. Which is a good sign.” Dean nodded. Ruby stood and they followed suit. “There is food back in the class. Ruby and I are going to go sit with Benny, ok?”

Dean nodded again and they parted ways. By his cot, he discovered two ham sandwiches, an apple and another bottle of water. He sat down heavily and ate one sandwich and half the apple. He turned so that he could look out the window but the sight made his stomach roil around the sandwich. He heard the door open and shut quietly and figured it was Sam back to check on him.

Instead, Castiel shuffled up next to him and sat down. They didn’t say anything for a long time until the door opened again. Balthazar came in next, a tube and some bandaids in his hand. He knelt in front of Dean and carefully cleaned the cut on his forehead where Cas had punched him and broke the skin. He placed the the small bandaids over the cut and wiped away the excess antibiotic cream and nodded.

“Some of my best work.” He declared softly.

“Thanks, doc.” Dean said.

“Thank you.” Balthazar replied. He squeezed Dean’s shoulder and left Castiel and Dean.

After a long moment of silence Dean said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what I was going to do.” He paused. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save Victor.”

Castiel, unused to how to comfort someone with physical affection, was at a loss. He turned to Dean and opened his mouth but found himself, instead, with Dean leaning into him, his face on his shoulder, Dean’s arms clutching his own middle. “I came here to help and look what I did.”

“You _saved_ Anna.” Castiel whispered fiercely. He reached to the back of Dean’s head, fingers stretching over the length of his hair, his palm cradling the back of Dean’s head. “You saved her. No one else would know what you did.”

“Victor-”

“Is a loss. Another loss that we’ll suffer.” Castiel whispered. “We have done this before. And we will bear this.” Castiel sighed and closed his eyes. “You can’t save everyone, my friend. Though, you try.”

Castiel held Dean like that for a long time.

 


	19. Chapter 19

Hours later, Cas found himself picking at a salad and a cup of soup. Dean had finally, fitfully, fallen asleep and Cas snuck out to get something to eat. The gym was nearly empty, with everyone on patrol or with the children.

It was Jo and Ellen who sat with Cas.

“I’m sorry about your sister.” Jo said gently.

“There’s a chance.” Cas said, nodding, his eyes glued on his soup.

“There’s a damn good chance. Your sister is a fighter. She’s young and strong.” Ellen said.

Cas cleared his throat and looked up at the two women. “This seemed to his Dean particularly hard. Why?”

Ellen glanced over at Jo who shared her mother’s look. Ellen sighed and looked over her shoulder as a young mother and her daughter left the gym, the only other ones other than themselves. “Dean’s daddy was an alcoholic. He was a no good, lying, cheating scoundrel. But those boys loved their daddy with all they had. They did. Dean worshipped his daddy, but Dean raised Sam, so Sam was a little more weary around his father. Anyway, comes the day they are in a warehouse, holed up. They got pinned down by a mob and John, Dean’s dad, got bit. John was insistent that if they cut it off in time, he would live. So he made Dean cut off his leg at the knee.”

Castiel closed his eyes and rubbed his face. “How old was he?”

“Sixteen. Sam was twelve.” Jo said. “But Sam wasn’t there for this part. He was outside, trying to keep the mob off them.”

“So Dean does the dirty work but his dad says he ain’t done yet. He’s got to cauterize the wound so he won’t bleed out. Dean does as he’s told, but it didn’t take. Maybe John was too old, didn’t have enough fight in him, wasn’t healthy enough. He turned.” Ellen shook her head. “Dean didn’t think of strapping him down like they did with your sister so when he turned, he went after Dean. From what Sam says, Dean shoved him in a closet, took out his own daddy and the rest of the mob.”

Castiel swallowed. “How did he know it would work with Anna?”

“We’ve done it, other times. Pretty good success rate, if we can get to them in time.” Ellen said softly. “But every time we’ve had to do it, it hits Dean hard.”

Castiel nodded.

“I’m sorry about Victor.” Jo muttered, looking down at her hands. “I keep thinking, if I had worked faster-”

“There was nothing to be done. He made a mistake. That’s just the terrible truth of it.” Castiel replied, clenching his own fists. He sighed and looked down, making his own fingers relax. “Jo, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” She muttered, pulling her hair out of her face with a hair tie that she dug out of her pocket.

“Where you were welding, the fence, did it look torn or cut?” Cas asked.

Ellen and Jo looked at one another.

“Cas we don’t want to say anything that could get anyone in trouble or make false accusations.” Jo said slowly.

“Of course not. But that’s not what I’m asking. I’m not asking for you to name anyone. Just- in your opinion. Did it look torn or did it look cut?”

“It was cut.” Jo said.

Castiel nodded. “That’s what I saw too.”


	20. Chapter 20

Dean woke to a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t open his eyes and was perfectly still as he wrapped his hand around the knife under his pillow.

“Don’t stab me, brother.” Benny muttered.

“Benny, what the hell.” Dean said, relaxing. He looked around for Cas but he wasn’t there. The sky was turning a soft purple outside.  

“It’s your turn on watch. We’ve doubled the people out there so the time off is getting shorter.” Benny said. “You got extra sack time for yesterday though, so shut your trap.”

“You should have woken me.” Dean said.

“Ruby only just woke me.” Benny said, nodding to her still form on a nearby cot. Sam was sitting up too, pushing his hair out of his face. “The three of us are up.”

Dean went to a sink in the corner of the room and splashed some water on his face. He cupped some of the cold water in his hand and took several long drinks. He glanced back at the other still forms on the cots and counted Bobby, Ellen, Garth, Ash and Jo there. Ruby was already asleep and Sam was standing. Benny waited at the door, gun and machete in hand. The three of them left silently, closing the door behind them.

“I’m gonna check in on Balthazar.” Dean said.

Benny and Sam waited outside the small nurses office that Balthazar had taken over as he stepped in.

Anna was lying strapped on a bed. It was brown and had a pillow on it and looked like any other bed you would find a sick kid laying on during a random school day.

But Anna was not a sick kid. She slept, in an odd fashion. Her jaw was clenched and she was panting. Her forehead was soaked with sweat and her hair was slick with it. Her bandages were clean and the wound itself looked as though it were all right.

Balthazar looked up from the desk he was sitting behind. Dean went straight to Anna. “Can’t you give her anything?” He asked softly.

“If I give her anymore, I’ll stop her heart. Or her lungs. Possibly both.” Balthazar replied wearily.

“Have you slept?” Dean asked.

“Napped.”

“Ate?”

“I think so.”

Dean fixed him with a stare. “You can’t do this. You are the single most important person here.”

“And she’s my sister, Dean.” Balthazar said. “Would you leave Sam? Joanna?”

 _Of course not._ And that was the kicker. Dean was asking him to do something that he himself would never do.

“Bring someone in here to watch her so you can at least lay down and catch some decent sleep.” Dean suggested.

Balthazar nodded. “Dean- I-” He stopped himself.

“What?” Dean prompted.

“I think I’m going to need something.” Balthazar said slowly.

“Like what?”

Balthazar closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve used all the antibiotic that we have here to help Anna. Vials of the stuff. I’ve tapered her off, but there is nothing left here in case someone gets sick.”

Dean sat down on the other bed across from Anna and nodded. “Ok.” He said. He looked down at his hands. “All right. We’re going to need a team. You can’t go. I’ll take Benny, Ruby, my brother, Charlie, Tran and Castiel. Garth too. Ash will stay here. He’ll be our lookout.”

“I hate to ask this of you.”

“Ain’t nothin’, brother.” Benny said from the doorway. “Just another walk in our dead filled park.”

“Wouldn’t that just be a cemetery?” Sam asked.

“We’ll need your truck. As many guns as you can spare.” Sam agreed. Balthazar nodded. The lights above them flickered for a moment before coming back on. “That’s weird.” Sam commented. “Ash eating up all the electricity around here or what?”

“No.” Balthazar said thoughtfully. “We’ve got plenty. Solar panels on the rooftop usually prevent fluctuations from the tanks out back.”

“When we get back, Dean will take a look.” Benny volunteered. “Boy can fix just about anything with a wrench.”

“That would be great.” Balthazar said.

“We’ll grab the rest of the group and head out.” Dean said.

“Best to grab some food and water before you do. Just in case.” Balthazar said.

Dean nodded. “Just in case.” He turned back to Sam. “Let’s go get everyone, gather what we need. Be at the truck in say, an hour?”

“All of us in that truck?” Benny asked.

“Can’t be wasting gas.”

“We could take fewer people.”

“If you want fewer people covering your backside, that’s your decision. If I could, I would take all the sharpshooters with me.” Dean said.

Benny huffed out a laugh and said, “All right, let’s get going before the building is invited out for a stroll.”

The three of them headed off in different directions, Benny to find Garth, Charlie and Kevin and Sam to get food. Dean went back to their room where Ruby was asleep and Castiel was in the room next door. The three of them gathered what weapons they could and then stopped into Ash’s room where he was drinking a bottle of water and watching the computers with a steady gaze.

“How goes it Ash?” Dean asked conversationally as he entered the room.

“Well, the crowd out there doesn’t seem to be wavering and you have something on your mind, O fearless leader.” Ash said, barely tearing his gaze away from the computer.

“Something got your interest there?” Dean said, ignoring the gentle query.

“Yeah. The fence debacle. Sam mentioned to me that it might be cut, see if I could do anything about finding a way to get into the cameras out there. Of course, I was able to do it.”

“Of course.” Dean said, hunkering down next to him. Cas crept up closer as well, standing behind Dean and peering into the computer as well. Ruby stayed by the door, pretending to be uninterested. There were two blurry figures on the screen, one rattling the fence and keeping the attention of the Returned while the other used wire cutters to snip through part of the fence. They weakened it but did not open a hole all the way through.

“We put a man on the moon, the dead walk among us but god forbid we get a camera that could make out facial features.” Cas muttered.

“Wise words, my friend.” Ash said, rewinding the recording again.

“Women?” Dean muttered looking closer at the video.

“That’s what I was thinking.” Ash confirmed.

“Who in the hell-” Dean asked, shifting closer to the computer.

“Dean.” Ruby hissed from the door. Dean straightened up and Cas leaned back against a bank of computers, his arms spread wide to support him. Dean leaned into his left arm and looked down at Ash.

“So what does the rest of today look like?” Dean asked conversationally.

Ash switched the screen and said, “Not too bad. They look like they are staying close to here, with the majority of the crowd gathered near the front. You should be clear from Elm Street out.”

Cas leaned forward, squinting at the screen, his hand coming up to rest between Dean’s shoulder blades. “What does the Highland area look like? That’s where we will be heading.”

“Pretty clear. A small crowd just west of it, in a park. Is that a park?”

Cas nodded and a group of people passed by the computer lab, chattering among themselves. Ruby smiled wanely at them, turning the handgun in her hand over and over as they almost paused outside the door and reconsidered.

“All right.” Dean said softly. “I want you to work on that. See if you can figure out anything else from the tape.”

“Wait, where the hell are you guys going?” Ash asked as Cas and Dean straightened up.

“Balthazar’s house. He needs some medical supplies and that’s where his stash is.”

Ash nodded. “The way is clear my friends. Just take the back way out.”

Dean nodded. “Keep your earpiece in until we get back.”

“Will do. Happy hunting, my friends.”

 


	21. Chapter 21

Truck loaded up with people, supplies and guns, Dean rolled down the window and handed the keys to the Impala to Balthazar. “Just in case.”

Balthazar nodded and pocketed the keys to the car and tapped the door. “Take care of my brother.”

Dean gestured to the back of the truck where Ellen was whispering to Jo and Ruby and Bobby was reminding Sam to take care of the guns. “Take care of my parents.”

Balthazar smiled and nodded. He stepped back from the truck and Ellen gave Ruby and Jo one last hug goodbye and came around to the front. “You got my babies, Dean.” She said.

“I know.”

“Bring them home. Bring yourself home too.” Ellen said. She grasped his hand and he kissed her knuckles.

“I will, mama. You know I do every time.” Dean promised. She patted his cheek and stepped back. Bobby came around to Castiel’s side of the truck.

“Boy, you better make sure that brother of yours takes care of my guns.”

“I will Bobby.” Dean promised.

“Watch out for Ruby. She hasn’t slept enough and I know for a fact she hasn’t had enough to eat.”

“I’ll remind her.” Dean replied.

“You need to get some more sleep too.” Bobby growled. He pointed a finger at Cas. “When he gets back, I am holding you personally responsible for his well being.”

“Yes sir.” Cas replied seriously.

“All right. Get on with it. You don’t want to lose too much daylight.” Bobby said, waving them off.

Dean started the truck and everyone in the back held on as the back gate opened for them and they left the school. Cas craned his neck around to wave goodbye to the guards and the few that had stopped to see them off.

“Every time I leave, even at the end of a regular school day, it feels like I’m leaving forever.” Cas said, turning to watch the red brick building disappear behind them.

“We’ll be back in a few hours. Get what we need and haul ass back. Figure out who those two on the camera are, kick em out, wait the rest of this storm out, and we’ll live happily ever after.” Dean said. He patted Cas on the knee. “You’ll get your school back, Cas.”

Cas was silent and stared out the window as Dean made his way to the house. Halfway there, he raised his hand to his ear piece. “Ash, can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear. I see you traveling west on 30th street.” Ash said. “You might want to detour-”

There was a loud crash that made Dean jerk the wheel, it was that painful in his ear. He glanced in his rearview mirror to see Ruby and Garth jerk theirs out of their ears and Sam holding his in his hand. Jo was pulling hers out of her ear as well.

“What the hell was that?” Dean demanded. There was no answer and all Dean could hear was swearing and more crashes. “Ash?” He asked. There was a sudden silence. “Take the wheel.” He said to Cas who scooted over and took the wheel from Dean so Dean could pull his earpiece out. His head was throbbing.

“What happened?” Cas asked softly.

“I don’t know.” Dean said. “Sounded like Ash was attacked.” He slowed the truck down and turned around to the back window. He pried it open and said, “Jo, get on the walkie. See if you can get anyone to see what’s going on with Ash.”

Jo nodded and dug the walkie talkie out of her backpack. Dean rubbed his ear and placed the piece back in as he rounded a corner.

“Dean!” Cas shouted, jerking the wheel. Dean stomped on the brake, throwing everyone in the back forward.

In front of them was a horde.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Dean said. He checked behind him but there was no way back, they had been closed in.

“Dean!” Sam said and Ruby stood, started firing at anything that was getting too close. Jo was talking into her walkie and everyone else stood and followed Ruby’s suit.

“Where do I go, Cas?” Dean asked.

“Knock down the fence between these two houses.” Cas said, pointing to two houses on Dean’s left. “Keep going and go through the back fences. There’s one more street you’ll have to cross but then you should be on our street.” He turned in his seat. “Hold on!” He shouted at everyone in the back.

Dean slammed on the gas and tore through first one fence and then another. It opened up onto a street that was even more densely populated than the first. He could hear Jo screaming something over the walkie and Ruby was holding on to her shoulder. Sam pounded on the top of the truck for Dean to go faster, but for Dean, there was no way out. “Shit.” He said. “Shit!”

Cas was already looping his arms through his backpack and grabbing his gun. He shoved Dean’s own bag at him. “We gotta run for it.” Cas said.

“Mom?” Jo screamed into the walkie. “Mom! Dad! Answer me!”

Garth tugged Jo out of the back of the truck and pulled her bag after him. Benny, Charlie, Kevin, Sam and Ruby were already firing.

“Where do we go?” Sam demanded.

“Through one of these backyards. The house is right over-” Cas started to point when the sky lit up and the ground shook and their words were drowned out. Even the Returned focused on the blast just behind them. They all stood for a moment, facing where they had just come from.

“Talk later.” Cas growled and pushed Dean towards the houses he was pointing at. He grabbed Kevin’s wrist and dragged him along and Dean pulled the rest of the group with him. As they were entering the first yard, the Returned seemed to remember they were there and began to circle them.

Ruby, Kevin, Charlie and Sam were separated from Cas, Jo, Benny, Garth and Dean in the tidal wave of the dead. Sam and his group made it into the house of the yard they just entered as Dean and his group were pushed farther into the backyard. Dean watched Sam smash in a window on the door and open it. He pulled everyone inside.

Cas took point, displaying a fair amount of athleticism as he scaled the back fence easily. Everyone followed suit and they dropped down into a yard full of dead.

“Christ.” Garth muttered, putting away his gun and pulling out his machete. Dean was shooting as many as he could until his bullets ran out and then switched over to his machete.

“There’s too many.” Cas said, wiping the sweat off his brow as another came for him, an old man dressed in a track suit. He slammed his machete through the man’s forehead and pulled it back out viciously. “We need to get out of here before we get-”

“Dean!” Jo yelled and then they were separated again, this time Jo, Benny and Garth being pushed towards the back porch of the house and Cas and Dean being cornered in the far end of the back yard.

“Separated.” Cas finished, his back to Dean’s, swinging for all he was worth.

“Can we get over this fence?” Dean asked, looking up.

“Not without a bite getting taken out of us.” Cas said. He pushed against it and it creaked ominously. “We could break it down though.”

Dean nodded. “Right.”

Shoulder to shoulder they advanced, pushing, stabbing and finally Cas said, “All right. On three. One, two, three!”

As one, they turned their backs to the dead and rushed the fence, taking the brunt of the blow with their shoulders, glanced off each other and fell to the ground. Dean fell on what was probably a pile of gravel and gasped on impact. He picked himself up and Cas pointed to the house. “It’s in there!” He said.

Dean wanted to tamp down on the fact that if what they had just witnessed was the school’s six propane tanks going up, they probably wouldn’t need the antibiotics anymore. What they would probably need was a bottle of something strong enough to help them sleep. But Dean followed Cas doggedly anyway, feeling blood seep down his back. He winced as he heard the moans turn to screams as the dead smelled the fresh blood. Cas broke open a window and unlatched a the back door before dragging Dean inside, closing it, and pulling down a hidden sheet of thick metal over the door he had just busted to get inside. He repeated the same thing with all the windows inside the house, pulling sheets of metal over them, latching them and securing them inside.

It was only then he noticed Dean standing very still, because Dean noticed that if he moved too much, the blood pouring down his back trickled a little bit more then when he stayed still.

“Dean?” Cas asked.

“I think I fell on some rocks.” Dean said, teeth clenched.

Cas went around to Dean’s back, and Dean heard Castiel’s sharp intake of breath. “No, you fell on the fence.”

“It’s not pretty is it?”

“Not even a little.” Cas admitted. “Let me inform the others of the shutters to protect them and then we’ll get started on you.”

Cas clicked his radio on, and voices immediately poured through.

“-ok?” Sam was asking.

“Yeah, we’re fine.” Jo replied. “But it’s just me, Benny and Garth here. Cas and Dean broke down the fence to the house to the right of us. We couldn’t see them after that.”

“We’re here.” Cas said immediately. “We’re ok.” He launched into an explanation of the metal shutters and how to use them and everyone went silent for several moments, barricading themselves in their respective houses.

When they came back on, Cas asked, “No one was harmed?”

“We’re all fine here.” Kevin reported.

“Here too.” Benny agreed.

“Us as well.” Cas confirmed.

Dean tugged the radio out of his hand. “Guys, we need to talk. Can we go up on the roof?”

Ten minutes later everyone was out in the sunshine, the smell of burning buildings and smoke wafting towards them. There was a black cloud coming from the direction of the school. Dean sat with his shirt off, Cas behind him, tugging large pieces of wood out of his shoulders and back.

“This is a lovely tattoo.” He murmured as he worked quickly. Wings stretched from the bottom of his neck and dipped down below his pants, the feathers meticulously drawn. They stretched down his arms almost to his elbows and Castiel could feel his mouth water when thinking about seeing Dean laid out-

“No one’s ever told me that.” Despite the sharp pain in his back, Dean smiled.

“I’m surprised.” Cas said honestly, his brain a little slower to catch up on the conversation. “I hope these splinters do not ruin the artwork.”

“No one’s ever called it artwork before either.” Dean said, sounding surprised himself.

“Whoever did this should be proud of what they’ve done.” Cas said.

“You can congratulate Sammy later.” Dean said.

“Sam?” It was Castiel’s turn to sound surprised.

“He has a sunset on his back that I did. It’s all right. I think I got the better end of the bargain.”

“You two are full of surprises.” Cas said as the radio crackled to life.

“What are you doing over there?” Charlie asked. She was in the house diagonal from them and was probably getting an interesting view.

“I fell on a splintery board when we broke down the fence.” Dean said into the radio.

“If you wanted to take your shirt off for Cas, I’m sure he wouldn’t turn you down.” Jo said from the house to their left.

“I wouldn’t.” Cas murmured behind him.

Dean craned his neck around to give Castiel a look but was only rewarded with a smirk and a sharp command to turn around.

“Let’s get down to business so I can find some narcotics in Balthazar’s stash.” Dean said.

“Dean.” Sam chided.

“Kidding, kidding.” Dean sighed. Cas leaned forward to get a better look of the splinters in his back and Dean felt his warm breath. He closed his eyes and raised the walkie talkie to his mouth. “Jo, tell us what you know.”

“When Ash clicked off, there was something like a fight. That’s what it sounded like anyway. I heard my mom over the line threatening someone, another woman from the sounds of it. They had killed Ash. Mom said that Bobby had the other one pinned down at the propane tanks and they weren’t going to get away with it. There was another fight, mom won. She told me that she loved me and-” Jo’s voice cracked and she looked down. Benny put a hand on her shoulder and Dean ached to be there for his surrogate sister. “And she was gone. The explosion happened a minute later.”

“Someone set the tanks to explode.” Cas murmured, laying the tweezers down.

Dean nodded. There was nothing but silence from the radio. Ruby turned to look at the school and Jo leaned into Benny. He wrapped his arms around her slender frame and even from the house next door, Dean could hear her sobs.

Cas leaned forward, his cheek pressed against Dean’s back. It was unexpected but Dean was grateful for the comfort. If Sam had been close he knew that he would have wrapped both him and Ruby up in a hug, but having Cas near was just as well. Charlie hung her head and Kevin rubbed her back.

Garth was the first to break their silence. “Not to put to fine a point on it, amigos, but we’re trapped in these houses, our supplies are limited and there ain’t no one coming for us. What do we do now?”

Cas sighed and reached forward for the radio. “Every house has an emergency supply closet. Find it. It should have enough food and water for four days for four people. We can create some kind of pulley system for now to distribute among ourselves evenly. Tomorrow, after we’ve rested and eaten, we can make a more definite plan.” Cas paused for a moment before continuing. “Right now though, I believe we all need a little bit of time before moving forward.”

Dean silently agreed. They made plans to meet on the rooftops in the morning at nine and they all re-entered their houses.

“Come on.” Cas said, nodding to a door across the hall from where they were. “That’s my apartment. I’ve got some things in there to better clean you up.”

Cas sat Dean down at the small table and went to the bathroom to gather a few things. Once he was ready, he sat behind Dean again and began to wipe away the remaining blood and placed bandaids on the small cuts that hadn’t stopped bleeding yet.

“Cas?” Dean asked.

“Yes, Dean?”

“Are you ok?”

Castiel’s hand stilled on Dean’s back. “I don’t know.” He replied honestly. “It hasn’t set in yet, I guess. That they’re all gone. The only people I know now are Charlie and Kevin.”

“You know me.” Dean said.

Cas chuckled and was surprised when he felt his eyes well with tears. “Dean, once we get out of this, you’ll leave. You’ll go back to Boston. You’ve still got your family.” He paused. “Most of them. I’m sorry, you lost people as well.”

“But not everyone.” Dean said. He turned so that he was facing Cas. “You can come with us. Stay. Stay with me- I mean, us. You can stay with us.”

Cas smiled and looked down at his hands where he held a half unwrapped bandaid. “But for how long, Dean?”

Dean pulled Cas unexpectedly into a hug. Cas stiffened; he hadn’t been held like this in a long time, especially by someone who was only partially clothed and smelled like the sun and the earth and the sky-

“Stay forever.”

Cas turned his face into Dean’s neck. He was freely crying now. This was something he would have told Anna about, how the handsome newscaster was holding him like the most precious person in the world, like someone who had all the answers.

“Forever isn’t much anymore, Dean.” He muttered.

“It’s enough, Cas.”

 


	22. Chapter 22

Dean made dinner and they ate silently, looking out the window. The explosion must have pushed the horde back or deterred the last of the crowd because they were all out in the streets now. They watched as the Returned wandered around outside, bumping into each other, moaning, doing absolutely nothing.

“What do you think it was?” Dean asked suddenly. “That brought them back?”

Cas swirled his water around in the bottle in his hand. He chewed on his lip. There were plenty of theories: military, evolution, nature, bioweapon. Cas didn’t know which one he sided with the most. If you listened to them all long enough, it all made sense after awhile. A lot of things made sense if you were alone in the dark with it for a long enough time. Fears became realities, realities became solitude and the dead rose to eat your leg as you slept underneath the stars.

“I think God got sick of us and our fucked up ways. And I think this was his parting gift.” Cas said.

Dean followed his gaze and his eyes were drawn to a boy of no more than twelve. He was wearing a rotting baseball uniform, god knows how long he’d had it on. It was dirty, torn, stained with god knows what and barely clung to his gray and dirty frame.

“My mom was one of the first to go. When the government had a lid on it. She got bit, they put her in containment, we visited her twice and then she was gone. Dad said he saw her once, in one of those crowds that always popped up. I never did figure out if he was telling me the truth or if he was just seeing shit.” Dean shrugged. “It doesn’t matter really. Mom getting bit by one of those things was like, this huge catalyst of my life.”

“What do you mean?” Cas asked, leaning forward.

“After that, dad just lost his mind. He had this laser focus on figuring out what happened, why we couldn’t have her body back, why there was no marker for us to mourn over. He dug through the internet, coming up with all kinds of weird shit. Everything from aliens to vampires. It was all laid out there. I had a few normal years with mom, but Sam-” Dean shook his head. “Sam grew up with our batshit crazy dad, training us, making us fight, learning hand to hand combat, learning how to shoot.”

“It paid off.” Cas said.

“Yeah, but being able to wear one of those,” Dean gestured to the boy in the baseball uniform, “I dreamed about doing that until I was twenty six, man.”

Cas watched the boy himself. “I never wore one either. Dad thought it was prideful. I grew up in a religious family. We were,” He paused. “To say that we were secluded would be an understatement. We lived in the woods, only electricity siphoned off of I don’t know what. Prayer in the morning, noon and before bed. Bible recitals, school work and farm work in between. No tv, no outsiders and certainly no baseball.”

“So when it hit-”

“We barely noticed. We heard from some of our neighbors that there was a pandemic that was supposed to make the dead rise but dad laughed at that. _Only the Lord Our Savior can do that, Castiel. Now go to sleep._ He was so sure of himself that when my older brother came for him, he told him to stand down.” Cas shook his head and took a drink from his own bottle of water. “Stand down. We were treated liked soldiers. But we managed to survive like soldiers. Once dad was gone, Michael took over. He ran a tight ship but eventually even upstate New York was taken over. If we weren’t Returned, something else got us. Illness. The flu ran through my family like a hot knife on butter. Lucifer abandoned us. Things just fell apart.”

“And you?”

“One day I woke up and it was just me and Samandriel. We had some dried meat, canned fruit, melted snow for water. We survived together for,” Cas whistled, “Four years, him and I.”

“How old were you?”

“When we left home I was thirteen. Samandriel was seven.” Cas cleared his throat and looked out the window. “You know, how during the winter, they’ll get caught in snowdrifts or ice?”

Dean nodded.

“Samandriel and I were trekking through these huge drifts. We had snow shoes on but it’s still a work out. A woman grabbed him, took a chunk out of his leg. I held him, till he turned. Then I killed him.”

“I’m so sorry, Cas.”

Cas shook his head once, tightly. “No, I got to tell him goodbye. It was a slow burn. She must have been old when she bit him. I sat through the night with him and I told him that I loved him and that I would miss him and he made me promise that I wouldn’t give up, not for him, not for nothing. He said the only thing that should make me give up is if the sun exploded and swallowed the whole universe. I don’t know where he came up with stuff like that, but he was always saying off the cuff things like that. He used to tell me that he loved me more than all the stars in all the skies of all the universes.” Cas wiped his face.

“Cas.” Dean whispered.

“It’s ok. It’s ok.” Cas muttered. Dean watched as tears fell on the table in front of him. “That was the last thing he told me before I killed him. When his little body collapsed in on itself because there was never enough to eat, and he was clinging to me and gasping he kept telling me, _It’s ok. It’s ok._ ”

Dean stood and went to Castiel’s side of the table. He sat down next to Cas and leaned his head into Castiel’s shoulder and bore his weight when Cas fell into him. “I won’t tell you it’s ok.” Dean said. He laced his fingers into Castiel’s that were hot and damp with tears. “I won’t because it’s not. It’s just fucking not. But for however long it’s not ok, I’m right here all right?” Dean looked up to the bare white walls and the blue ceiling. “We’re right here, me and you. In this room, eating and talking. And later we’re going to lay down and stare at this blue ceiling and you’re going to be thinking, _Is this guy going to kiss me?_ and I’m going to be laying there thinking _Should I kiss this guy?_ and neither one of us is going to sleep while we both pretend to sleep.”

“Will you kiss me?” Cas asked, raising his head.

Dean leaned forward and pressed his lips to Castiel’s chastely. He kissed the corners of his mouth and his eyelashes that were still wet from tears. He kissed his forehead and his cheeks, the edge of his jaw. He kissed his nose and the edge of his bottom lip and his chin. “As long as you want me to.” Dean whispered.

They eventually made it to the bed and even though they both stripped down to their boxers, Dean just held Cas, his fingers in his hair and the other hand wrapped up in Castiel’s.


	23. Chapter 23

“Well, looky here, looky here.” A nasally voice said and Dean felt a sharp pain in his ribs. He pushed Cas to the corner of the bed out of instinct and reached for the machete that he kept on the floor in one smooth motion.

But it wasn’t there.

Dean, instead, held his hands up.

A man, taller than even Sam, stood before them. He was cloaked in darkness but Dean could make out a bony skull and deep sunk eyes. His nose was large enough to cast its own shadow.

“Refugees from the blast, I assume?” He asked, swinging the Dean’s machete up to his shoulder.

Dean didn’t answer.

“Well, where else would you have come from?” He said. “Azazel is my name. My associates Brady, Eve and Abby are around here, somewhere.”

Dean still didn’t say anything.

“Strong silent type, huh?” Azazel said. “Well, we can fix that.” He swung his fist viciously and knocked Dean square in the jaw, flinging him to the floor. Azazel reached for Cas who got one good hit of his own before another man, Brady, Dean had to assume, came in and put a knife to Dean’s throat.

“Tell me who else is here.” Azazel said to Cas.

“There’s no one.” Cas said.

“Search the house, dick weasel. It’s just us.” Dean said, his face smashed into the carpet by Brady’s boot.

“We have.” A red head from the doorway said. “And he’s right.”

“And the other houses?” Azazel asked.

Both Cas and Dean were silent.

“Go.” Azazel snapped. He looked at Dean and Castiel. “Get dressed.”

They did slowly, Azazel watching them, his eyes lingering on Dean a little too long. By the time word came back that they had in fact found the others, they were both dressed and sitting on the bed with their hands fastened cruelly tight around their back. Benny was pushed in first, bleeding freely from his head and mouth. Jo’s lip was busted open and Garth was limping. Brady followed them triumphantly.

Ruby was next, her hand gripping her shoulder where blood seeped through her white tank top. Sam stumbled in after her, bleeding freely from his head. Charlie came in next, her hands bound behind her with the same plastic zip ties that bound Cas and Dean. Kevin was last, his eye swelling shut.

Eve pushed Ruby into the room and she stumbled into Dean. Sam reached over to help her up but Azazel came between the two of them.

“Let’s keep it civil, kids.” He said. His smile reminded Dean of a snake. “We’re going to wait until our ride gets here. And then we’re going to go out to our place and we’ll see what happens from there.”

Sam looked over at Dean but he was the only one. Everyone else shifted from foot to foot but Azazel saw the look.

“You two.” He said, gesturing to first Sam and then Dean. “Friends, family, what?”

Dean snorted. “I just met this guy at the school.”

Sam shrugged.

“So you didn’t know that this dude right here was banging this dude?” Azazel said, nodding first to Dean and then Cas.

“That’s way more information than I needed.” Sam said, making a face and stepping back. In all reality, Sam had known about Dean’s attraction to both guys and girls all his life. In all his life it never bothered him. The act that they put on now was to keep both of them safe. It had happened to them both before, that they had been used against each other, that now they both knew to act as if they didn’t know a single thing about each other. It’s how they protected each other.

“Whatever, man.” Dean muttered. He tried to nudge Cas behind him just a little bit, but Cas was practically immobile next to him.

“You two are just cozy, aren’t you?” Abby said from the doorway. Dean rolled his eyes but did not reply. She sauntered over to them and placed a long finger underneath Castiel’s chin and made him look up at her. He jerked away from her and she sighed. She reached forward one more time, this time pulling Dean’s hair back and exposing his neck.

“It’s always the pretty ones, isn’t it?” She growled.

“Don’t play with the food, Abby. It’s unappetizing.” Eve said.

Dean felt his stomach roll over at Eve’s words but tried not to give anything away. Cannibalism, and not just by the dead, was almost commonplace after the war. There hadn’t been much to eat, not much left that hadn’t been destroyed and so, people turned on each other like never before. The first world nations were struck the hardest, people who were higher up on the social scale succumbing first. They had never had to deal with hunger before, never had to deal with the mind numbing singularity of obtaining a food source. It trickled down, as these things often did.

Sam and Dean were proud to say that they had done everything in their power to resist going down that path but it was something they never asked of others, something that they knew was a matter of survival, something that was only caused by the worst kind of desperation.

Castiel managed to shrink back further away from Abby and the others and despite their mockery, Dean scooted in front of. Azazel smirked and then the radio he had on his belt crackled to life.

“We’re here.” A man’s voice came over the line.

Azazel nodded and there was an almighty squealing from the front yard and he nodded to the door. “Brady, Eve. You first. Our guests.” He said and nodded to the door. As Dean stood, Azazel slipped behind him and looped his arm around Dean’s neck. Dean’s first instinct was to panic but then he felt cold metal pressed to his neck. “If any of you try anything, I’ll slice his pretty neck and bleed him out here so that we can roast him when we get back home.” There was a pause. “Are we clear?”

No one actually said anything but they were as clear as a spring day. They all shuffled downstairs and into the large van that had at one point white. Azazel sat in the backseat with Dean, the knife still on his throat. Everyone else piled in, Jo sitting on Garth’s lap, Benny glancing back at Dean, Sam and Ruby close to the front, Kevin and Cas and Charlie piled way too closely in the front seat and middle seats. The rest of the people from Azazel’s team filed into a station wagon that was parked on the front yard of the house next door.

“Ready whenever you are, Raphael.” Azazel said politely.

The guy in the front seat started the van and slammed on the gas, mowing over as many dead as he possibly could. The ride was unpleasantly long, filled with too many sharp turns and sudden stops. By the time they pulled into a building that was surrounded by a chain link fence, Dean’s throat was bleeding from half a dozen shallow cuts. As they left the van and headed up stone steps to an abandoned oil rig machine shop, the driver stood just outside the entrance, holding more zip ties in his hands. As each of them passed by, he tied their hands together and Brady led them inside. Azazel waved off the large man’s offer to tie Dean up and they stepped into the dank and dark building together. Brady led them through the front office into the machine shop and then even further back, onto a catwalk where he stopped.

“Lights.” Azazel said and three flashlights lit up the darkness and the ground below them.

There were at least three dozen Returned milling around below them, bumping into things. Some were fresh, kills that had been done in the recent days. Others looked months old, only barely holding their forms together. They all turned their faces, or what was left of them, up to the lights that Abby, Eve and Brady were holding.

“We use them as a deterrant. Anyone trying to get in would get a very warm welcome indeed.” Brady said.

Castiel tried not to gag on the smell.

They continued across the catwalk until they reached a wall separating the dead from another room.

“Ladies, gentlemen.” Azazel said. He gestured down below and they found themselves looking down, prepared for more dead.

Instead they saw a man carving meat.

He looked up, waved. “My brother, Alastair.” Azazel said and waved back. “Getting dinner ready for tonight.”

Jo swayed on her feet and Ruby braced her as well as she could with her shoulder. Dean tried to swallow but remembered the knife at his throat. In the very little light, Dean could see Sam go pale.

Azazel and the others pushed the group forward, towards a closed door. Sam resisted but when Azazel reminded, polite as always, about the knife at Dean’s neck, he faltered and opened the door in front of them.

Much to their simultaneous relief and terror, it was a gray ceiling with gray doors. Three lights lit the windowless hallway. The group was pushed against one wall and Brady pulled out a gun and shoved it underneath Sam’s throat.

“That’s the problem with these people.” He muttered. “You threaten one with death, they all freeze.”

Azazel hummed his agreement and paced in front of the group. He stopped in front of Garth and placed a hand on his chest. “You.” He said.

“No.” Jo growled and would have jumped for Azazel if not for Kevin’s arm around her waist. “No.” She said again and tried to shove Kevin away.

“Not your call, sweet cheeks.” Azazel said calmly and opened the door behind Garth and shoved him in. There was a crash and Azazel locked the door.

He paced in front of the group again, stopping in front of Castiel this time.

“I will kill you.” Ruby whispered from her end of the line.

Azazel’s eyes lit up and he walked over to her.

“What did you say?” He asked and tilted her chin up so that she met his eyes.

“I will kill you.” She said again.

Azazel opened the door behind her and shoved her in. Sam made a move and Brady pulled the trigger, aiming at the last second away from Sam’s head. The shot made everyone freeze and Azazel calmly locked the door behind Ruby. Azazel took one last look around and chose Benny next and shoved him in another door.

“The rest of you, go.” He said, nodding to Brady and the last door. Brady opened it and with a knife in Dean’s back and Brady’s gun pointed at different members of the group, they marched into the last room.

It was square and the only thing in it was a rickety desk shoved in the corner. There were dark stains on the walls and the floors that everyone tried to avoid.

“You’ll stay here until we get back around to you. In the meantime, make yourselves at home.” Brady said with a grin. Azazel offered them a little wave and left. Brady slammed the door shut behind him and they heard him lock it. As soon as the lock slid into place, Jo was pulling at her zip ties, the same as Sam and Dean. Castiel found a stain-less spot on the wall and slid down it. He watched listlessly as Dean and Jo fought their way out of their zip ties and Dean pulled apart the desk, looking for a sharp implement to cut everyone out of their own ties. He eventually was able to pry a handle off one of the drawers and bent it until he was able to use one of the sides to cut through their bindings.

“What do we do now?” Kevin asked.

Sam pried apart another handle and began to bend it so that he could use it like his brother. “Now, we wait.” He said softly.


	24. Chapter 24

By Dean’s watch, it was three hours later that they heard Garth start to scream.

He fell silent five hours later.


	25. Chapter 25

“Do you think he’s ok?” Sam whispered hoarsely in the dark.

“Garth’s tough.” Dean said and swallowed. He was hungry. Castiel and Jo slept in a corner, Castiel curled tight around Jo as she cried her way into sleep. Kevin sat next to them but Dean wasn’t able to tell if he was awake or not. Charlie was slumped against Sam, shivering occasionally.

“Why haven’t we heard anything from Ruby or Benny?” Sam asked and Dean had the mental flashback to Sam asking so many questions as a child, expecting the only real parent he had to have all the answers. It made him want to snap at Sam, to make him shut up, but god only knew how he felt with Ruby locked in one of those rooms.

“I don’t know.” Dean whispered. “I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that we haven’t heard from them.”

They heard a door slam from the other side of their own door and Dean stood.

“Dean-” Sam said. It took just one look from Sam for Dean to know what he was saying. Please not Ruby. Please.

She screamed a moment later and then there was a shot and then there was nothing.

“No.” Sam said and stood. “No!” He beat on the door and punched it and screamed and screamed. He took another step back and Dean was worried that he might try to run through it but the door opened suddenly and the driver was there in front of them, large and ugly.

“Shut the-” He started before Dean slammed the silver edge of his improvised knife into the guy’s throat. He swung out and Dean stepped back, right in front of the door. A shot rang out and Dean felt a hot slice of pain across his right bicep and jerked back.

Brady stood in the door, Eve and Abby at his back, Azazel striding up behind them. “I cannot even have lunch without- what the hell happened to Uriel?”

“This guy.” Brady said, stepping forward and placing his gun in the center of Dean’s forehead. It was still hot and he jerked away.

“That’s enough.” Azazel said mockingly.

As though on cue, Charlie stood and tackled Abby and Kevin charged at Eve. In the tussle, two more shots rang out and Abby kicked Charlie fiercely in the face and Eve punched Kevin in the face where his eye was still swollen

“It wasn’t nothin’ personal.” Azazel said. He strode over where Kevin lay on the ground and held him down with a boot on his chest. “We just wanted a little slice of the pie you had, nothing more. What you did-” The man raised his finger to Castiel. “What you did was selfish. You made it personal.”

“You refused to abide by the rules.” Castiel growled. Dean wondered if he could hold him back. “You would not pull your fair share. That’s why you were kicked out. You and your family.”

“The murdering and lying didn’t help your case either.” Charlie snapped, wiping at her bloody nose with her free hand.

“Never proven, Red.” Azazel said calmly.

“What-?” Sam asked. He seemed to have calmed down a bit. 

“They lived with us for awhile. Azazel, Brady, Abby-”

“Abbadon.” The other woman corrected.

“Whatever. Eve, Dick, Raphael. They didn’t contribute to the community. Then people around them started disappearing. Kevin and Victor kicked them out.” Castiel explained. “We found the bodies that spring when the snow melted.”

“We can only assume Rachel and Hester were picked up later, sent into Farmington to destroy it as an initiation or something.” Charlie finished up.

“They were supposed to get out alive.” Eve said softly.

“Yeah, well. My mom saw through those two whores act-” Jo piped up. She cradled her arm to her chest but from her words you wouldn’t know she was hurt at all.

“Language.” Azazel admonished.

“And she killed them.” Jo said. She laughed at Eve’s face. “Yeah, my mama. She sliced open Rachel’s throat and left Hester to bleed to death. But I guess the explosion cut that short.”

Eve slapped Jo across the face, sending her back a couple of steps. Jo laughed and wiped away the blood on her lip. “My mom still killed your friends.”

Eve advanced on Jo but Azazel stopped her with a look. “That’s enough, Eve.” He turned to Dean once more. “I am going to offer you a deal. You can stay here, with us. Live with us. You have proven yourself resourceful on more than one count. We would welcome you, your brother. Maybe even that little spitfire over there.” He said, nodding at Jo.

“The three of us?” Dean said, looking at Kevin on the floor, Charlie chained to the desk in the corner of the room and Castiel who stood next to him.

“It’s a generous offer.” Azazel said. He watched Dean steadily.

“My brother gets to live?”

“Dean-” Sam choked out, looking over at Cas. Cas lowered his head.

“Yes.” Azazel said.

“And Jo too?”

Azazel sighed and looked over at Jo. She met his eyes without flinching. “Fine, yes.” Azazel said.

“You can take your offer and shove it up your fucking-” Dean started but was stopped when Azazel stumbled back and red bloomed bright on his green shirt.

“I-” He said before collapsed on the dingy floor.

Eve reached for the handgun on the desk but two more shots rang out, one in her shoulder, the other in her neck. Brady, Abbadon and Dick tried to take cover but there was nowhere for them to hide in the sparse room. Dean and Sam got everyone in a corner, trying to figure out where the shots were coming from.

Finally, Brady’s body hit the ground, the last of his group, but no one moved. A gun dropped next to them, the metal making the only sound in the room.

“Sam?” A soft voice came from above them.

“Uh, yeah?” Sam answered.

“I need help getting down.” She said.

“Ruby?” He said, standing straight up. “Where are you?”

“Up here, you moron.” She said. They all craned their necks up to see a ventilator hanging half off its hinges and Ruby hanging half out of it. “I think I’m bleeding to death.” She said.

“Oh god.” Sam said. He pushed the desk, with Charlie still attached to it, over to the vent and pulled Ruby out of it, trying to be careful of the knife wound in her side. “Oh god, Ruby. What the fuck. What the fuck, I thought you were dead.”

She snorted. “Like some little knife wound could take me out.”

“That doesn’t look little.” Tran said as he lifted her shirt to get a better look. “We need to get back to Balthazar’s house where there’s medical supplies. She needs to get this stitched up now.”

“Do you know where they have the earpieces?” Dean asked.

“No.” Kevin said, his lips tight. “I don’t know where Garth or Benny are either. Or if they are still alive.”

“Fuck.” Dean said. “Ok. Here’s the plan. Cas, you and me and Kevin will search this place. Jo, I need you to stay here and guard them. Sam, watch over Ruby and see if you can find the key to get Charlie out.”

“Dean-” Sam starts and it comes out as a partial whine. It only earns him a warning look from Dean. “Yeah, ok.” He said softly.

“I’ll be right back, man. With Benny and Garth. And then we are going to clean this place out, and then go find a place where I can take a nap.” He clapped Sam on the shoulder. “Ok?”

Sam nodded, pulling Ruby closer to him. Dean cupped her cheek for a second and she looked up at Dean. “Take care of him, ok?”

“Will do.” She replied in a softly strangled voice.

Dean nodded to Sam and gestured to the door. “Let’s get this over with.”

Dean opened the door that led out to the dim hallway. Kevin took the lead and pointed to the first door. Cas opened it and Kevin went in, sweeping the way clear and Dean right behind him, keeping him covered.

Garth was in the corner. Dean thought he was just a pile of rags for a moment because he didn’t move but Cas was the one to make his way over to him and place a hand on his shoulder. Garth moaned.

“Shit.” Cas muttered. “Garth? Hey buddy.”

Garth moaned again.

“Hey, Garth.” Dean said, gesturing for Kevin to cover the door. “Hey can you hear me?” He asked gently, joining Cas at Garth’s side.

“Dean?” Garth asked.

“Yeah.” Dean said, wincing when Garth turned his face towards them. He was beaten badly. His face was a mess and Dean wasn’t sure he could see out of his eyes, they were so swollen. “Can you stand?”

“I think so. With some help, maybe.” Garth said. He sat up and his face contorted at the movement, but he managed to get to his feet with Cas’ help.

“All right, man. We’ll just take you down the hall to where everyone else is and then we’re going to go find Benny.” Dean said.

“He was just here.” Garth said, leaning heavily on Dean. “They had him, against the wall and I must have passed out or something cause he was just here.”

“We’ll find him, Garth. Let’s get you back with everyone else.” Cas said.

They took him back to the other room where Charlie and Sam were dragging bodies into the corner and Ruby was leaning up against a wall, a hand pressed against her side. They laid Garth down next to her and went back to the hall. They passed three empty rooms before finding one locked. Dean and Cas kicked it open to find Benny tied to a desk, his head hanging over the edge, breathing labored.

But breathing.

He didn’t have a shirt on and it was difficult to tell where he was bleeding from, there was so much blood.

“Benny.” Dean breathed. He rushed to his friends side, grabbing a knife from the floor and began slicing through the ropes around his calves that bound him to the desk.

“I never thought I would be this glad to see your ugly face.” Benny muttered. He coughed and Dean realized he was probably choking on his own blood. He handed the knife over to Cas and went over to Benny, supporting his head. “Please tell me you killed every single one of them.”

“No, I didn’t.” Dean said. “Ruby did.”

Cas cut through one of the ropes around Benny’s wrist and he managed to sit up. “I thought they killed her? I heard her scream and then nothing.” He said. He turned his head and spat on the ground.

“I’m betting in one of these rooms we’re going to find a couple of dead bodies.” Kevin said. “She killed them, climbed up one of the air vents and killed the ones in the room too.”

“What a lovely woman.” Benny said, groaning as Cas cut through the last rope and he stood. He stumbled but then maintained his balance. “If I know Sam wouldn’t punch me, I’d kiss her.” He raised a hand to his face. “But I’ve had enough punching today.”  

“Looks like it, old man.” Dean agreed, looping an arm around Benny’s waist. They made it back to the sparse room where everyone else was. He leaned Benny against a wall where he slumped to the ground with a groan.

“Ok,” Sam said, “We’ve got everyone. Now what?”

“We find a ride out of here.” Dean said. “Half of us can’t walk the distance we need to go to get back to Balthazar and Anna.”

“What then, Dean?” Jo asked. She rubbed her arms with her hands as though she were cold even though the room they were in was stiflingly hot. Dean understood though. Their compass, their truth north, most of their little family was gone. Sure, Dean was the leader, he always had been. But that didn’t mean he made the decisions alone. He often looked to Bobby and Ellen, trusted in their wisdom.

He felt their loss keenly.

“Let’s get to the other two, Jo. Then we can talk about where we go, who wants to go, what we’ll do, after that.” He crossed the room and pulled her into his chest. He knew she was barely holding it together. Her mother had been her best friend, her rock. “We’ll do this one step at a time, Jo. Together, just like we’ve always done.”

Jo nodded and buried her face in his chest for a moment. “Let’s get started, then.”

Sam gathered Ruby up in his arms and Jo and Charlie helped Garth to his feet. Kevin got Benny to his feet and let him lean on him and Dean opened the door, Cas close behind. They held their weapons ready.

Their short walk down the hall was uneventful. When they got to the door at the far end of the hall, Dean paused and exchanged a look with Cas.

“After this is outside where only a chain link fence separates us from thousands of Returned.” Cas said.

“But we’ll be in the parking lot. A couple of cars. Right?” Dean prompted.

“Right.” Cas said. “But we have no keys.”

“I can hotwire a car.” Dean said.

“I can’t.” Cas whispered.

“I know how.” Kevin said from behind them. “So if we could get a move on, Benny isn’t getting any lighter.”

Benny nodded sagely.

“All right.” Dean said. “Let’s do this.”

 


	26. Chapter 26

The walk was short but tense. There was no way to know if all of Azazel’s group had died under Ruby’s gun and there were too many goddamn doors in this place. But they made it out and saw two dusty sedans at the end of the parking lot.

“They’re as far away as they possibly could be.” Cas noted drily.

“Of course they are.” Dean said. “Cas, take Benny. Kevin, you and I are going to hoof it over there, hotwire those things and bring them over here. Everyone else, back in the building.”

There was some grumbling but they headed back to the building, Cas casting one look behind him before the door closed behind him.

“We gotta haul ass.” Kevin muttered.

“All right.” Dean said. They exchanged a look and took off for the cars, the moans around them turning to howls. Dean fought the instinct to duck his head and hide, but Kevin held his hands to his ears. They slid into the cars almost at the same time, broke the windows out and jerked the door open. Kevin got his car started first, and Dean gestured for him to go. The Returned howled louder as the car roared away and to the front of the building. Dean’s car finally clicked and turned over as the Returned pushed the chain link fence down behind the car. Jo, Benny and Garth were already in the car with Kevin. Ruby, Sam, Charlie and Cas climbed in with Dean. Cas sat in the front and Ruby lay across Sam and Charlie’s lap. Dean pulled forward to Kevin’s car.

“I’ll go first. We’ll head back to the street we were on, to the big blue house in the middle. Got it?” Dean said.

“Got it.” Kevin said and glanced in the rearview mirror. The Returned were making their way to the cars, a little more quickly than anyone would like to think about.

“Hold on.” Dean said to everyone in the back. He saw Sam huddle over Ruby’s body and Cas brace himself when they saw him aiming for a sagging part of the fence. The car ripped through it without barely a glancing blow done to it. Kevin was right on his bumper as Dean took out dozens of the dead, never slowing down. He took the corners too fast for comfort but no one asked him to slow down. The further they got from the abandoned oil field offices, the fewer dead there was.

Dean finally took the last turn slow, heading for Balthazar’s house. He pulled up to the front and shoved his gun at Cas. “Open the door, cover for us.” He instructed.

Cas got out of the car and fumbled with his keys at the door before finally throwing the door open, the same time a shot rang out and Cas stumbled back, holding his left shoulder. He fell down the front steps, landing heavily on his back, blue eyes wide with surprise.

Balthazar burst out of the house, gun in hand. His eyes were wide and he dropped the gun on the floor of the porch.

“No, no. Jesus. No.” Balthazar cried out.

“Cas?” Dean asked, reaching him in no time at all and falling down next to him.

“Did my brother just shoot me?” Cas asked, blood pouring out of his fingers.

“Jesus fuck.” Kevin said, reaching the three of them. “Shit, Cas.” He said and pulled off his hoodie and pressed it down on the wound.

“Am I dying?”

“No, um.” Balthazar looked at a loss for a second before something clicked in his mind and he shook his head. “No. I don’t think so. Let’s get you inside.”

Dean pushed Kevin out of the way and pulled Cas to his feet and then carried him inside. He put him down on the kitchen table while Balthazar ran around the house muttering things to himself.

“If I turn-” Cas shook his head. “Don’t let me, Dean.”

“Shut up.” Dean growled.

Kevin backed away, sensing a need for them to be alone.

“You have to do it, Dean. It was Gabe’s job but- And Anna-”

“Shut up, you idiot. You just got shot in the arm, you’ll be fine.”

“If I’m not, promise me.”

Dean looked into Castiel’s panicked eyes. “Fine. I promise. But you aren’t dying. You _aren’t_. Remember upstairs? We’ve got like, thirty more years to do that.”

Cas didn’t reply.

Balthazar came back with all the instruments he would need. He made Dean lift Castiel up so that he could see if there was an exit wound; there was not.

“I’m going to have to dig it out.” Balthazar said, his mouth pressed into a thin line.

“Dig.” Cas said, turning even more pale.

“I’ll give you some morphine but still, Cas-”

“Got it.” Cas whispered, his hold on Dean tightening. He turned his eyes to him. “Don’t you dare leave me.”

“I’m right here.”

Balthazar pulled out a needle that looked far too big, but Dean just gave Cas a smile and nodded. Balthazar slipped the needle into Castiel’s shoulder and within seconds, his eyes were a little more glassy but that didn’t stop him from screaming when Balthazar started pulling the bullet from his shoulder. He was pale and bloody and Dean didn’t like the way Balthazar stood next to him, checking his pulse, his pupils, wiping the sweat from his too still face. Finally, his lips pursed, he started to sew the wound close.

“Balthazar?” Dean asked softly.

Balthazar shook his head. “I don’t know. It was a lot of blood, Dean.”


	27. Chapter 27

“How the fuck are you here?” Dean finally asked.

“Bobby. He found out what was going on with Rachel and Hester. Told me to get Anna and leave. He made me take your car and when we were barely far enough away, the whole school blew.”

Dean looked up at Balthazar.

“Dean, I’m so sorry.” He whispered. His hands were covered in his brother’s blood. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save them-”

“We couldn’t have saved them. It would have just been more death.” Dean said urgently. He shook his head. “I don’t blame you. You did what you could. And you still are doing what you can. That’s all that counts in my book.”

Dean pulled Cas up into his arms when Balthazar nodded for him to and Sam swept in with Ruby. Charlie wiped down the table and Sam laid Ruby down. That was the last thing Dean saw before he headed upstairs to Castiel’s apartment and the large bed.

There he took his bloody shirt off and stripped his dirty jeans off too. He laid Cas down gently on the bed and went for a towel and some water to clean him up.

He tended to Cas gently, not wanting him to wake up too soon. He pulled the blankets up over his waist, and stepped away.

Dean headed for the bathroom, his hopes for a shower slim. Even if it was cold, he just wanted to wash away the smell of the old oil field office off of him. Much to his surprise, the water turned on even if it was cold. He washed quickly, found something to wear in Castiel’s closet and slipped into the bed next to him. He was too tired to check the doors, the windows, the locks, the water supply, even too tired to check on Sam. He closed his eyes and he slept.

~~~

He was awake two hours later when Cas started gasping and seizing. Dean reached out for him, but it was like reaching into an oven. He threw the blankets off both of them even though it was still too cold to sleep without them.

“Balthazar!” He yelled into the hallway. He heard a door slam open and more than one pair of feet stomping up the stairs. Dean held Cas down by his right shoulder and his left elbow. Sam joined him and caught his legs.

“On his side.” Balthazar instructed tightly, helping them and making sure the stitches weren’t torn open. When the seizure ended a moment later, they were all sweating and shaking. Charlie was in the doorway.

“Can I get you guys anything? What can I do?” She asked softly.

Balthazar gave her a small smile and shook his head. “Nothing for now.” He stood and left, returning a moment later. Dean was hovering over Cas, wiping his brow with a cool washcloth.

“What is it?” Dean asked.

“Infection, it seems.” Balthazar replied. “His body is in distress. The fever is trying to kill the infection but it can’t go much higher without causing damage to Castiel’s brain.” He held up a small bottle and a syringe. “Anna won’t be needing these anymore.”

“Wait-” Dean said.

“She’s fine. She’s sleeping. She needs fluids and rest.” Balthazar replied. “He needs this.”

He stuck the needle in Castiel’s arm and sat back. Nothing changed.

“It will take awhile to start working.” Balthazar said. “But it should help the fever.”

“And the seizures?” Dean asked.

“If we can break the fever, the seizures will stop.”

“So we just wait?” Sam asked.

“That’s all we can do for now.” Balthazar said.

Sam slumped down on the couch. He put his head back on the couch and a few moments later, Ruby limped in. She made her way to the couch, laid her head down on Sam’s lap and promptly fell asleep. While she was there, Balthazar took a quick look at her stomach at the stitches he had put in for her and then covered her with a blanket. Then he sat down at the dining room table. He looked over at Dean.

“Lay down. Sleep. I’ll watch over him.”

Dean did lay down. But he didn’t sleep.

Cas woke several hours later as the sun rose over the horizon, panting for breath.

“What did you do with him?” He demanded. He tried to reach for Dean but winced at the pain in his shoulder. “Where is he?”

“Who, Cas?” Dean asked, wanting to reach out for him but scared of the reaction he would receive.

“My brother! Samandriel! Where is he? What have you done with him?” Cas demanded through gritted teeth. His eyes were still glassy from the morphine and fever.  

Balthazar stood and Sam with him.

“Cas-” Dean started. He swallowed hard and looked down at his hands. They were shaking and he clenched them. “Cas, it’s me. It’s Dean.”

“I don’t know you.” He spat. “Get my brother.”

“All right.” Dean said. He nodded to Sam. “Go get him.”

Sam looked at him curiously but left the room. Moments later, Cas was unconscious again.

“So, hallucinations are new.” Dean said conversationally.

“We have to have faith that it will pass.”

“Faith?” Dean said. “In the past three days we have both lost- we’ve lost everything. Our families, our homes, our supplies and you are asking me for faith?”

“It’s not so much.” Balthazar said with a tight smile. “Sleep. You are on the verge of exhaustion yourself. I’ll see if anyone can cook.”

Balthazar left the room but left the door open. Dean laid down next to Cas once more but did not sleep. Instead, he spent the next several hours alternating between checking Cas and pacing. Balthazar brought up a sandwich to him which he chewed on distractedly.

Hours passed and when Dean dared to approach Castiel again, he woke at the feel of Dean’s hand on his forehead.

“Hey.” Dean said softly.

“Dean.” Cas said, his eyes wide. They weren’t as glassy and he was sweating through his shirt. “Dean.”

“Yeah, hey. It’s me.” Dean nodded and sat down.

“I feel like shit.”

“Yeah, well, you got shot and then you had an infection and fever. You probably won’t be able to run a marathon for at least a couple days.” Dean said.

“Who the hell shot me? Was it one of those guys?” Cas asked. He reached for the blankets pooled around his waist. Shivers wracked his normally stable frame.

“Uh, no. That’d be me. Sorry, Cassie.” Balthazar said from the doorway.

Cas squinted at the door and his mouth dropped open.

“Balthazar?” He asked. He tried to sit up, but it was useless. He fell back and wiped his brow. “How are you here? Why did you shoot me?”

“Bobby got us out in time. And I thought you were a looter. So, I shot first, figured I would ask questions later.” Balthazar approached the bed and, using the towel Dean had kept at the bedside, wiped his brow. “Welcome back.”

“Anna?”

“She’s in her room. She’s recovering. She’ll be fine.” Balthazar said. He patted Castiel’s unwounded shoulder. “Get some rest. You’ll be fine too, in a few days.”

He turned to the door and left them.

“My brother shot me.” Cas said softly.

“These things happen.” Dean consoled him.

“Will you stay with me?”

“I haven’t left this room in over twenty four hours, Cas. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Dean?”

“Yeah, Cas?”

“Thanks.”

Dean pressed a kiss to his forehead. Cas desperately need a shower, some food, some water and sleep. Dean desperately needed Cas.

“I’ll be here. Sleep.”

Cas did.     

~~~ _**Three days later**_

Dean and Sam sat on the roof, looking out over the horizon. “We could do anything. We have the Impala. These people can take care of themselves. Us and the girls, we could leave.” Sam said.

“Yeah, Sammy-” Dean started. 

“But we won’t.” Sam sighed. “I know we won’t. The last person you looked at the way you look at Cas was Lisa and the only reason you aren’t with her anymore is because she died. So we aren’t going anywhere. At least not without this new crew.”

“We could go back home.” Dean suggested.

“Boston?” Sam asked.

“Kansas. There were rumors about an underground bunker. We could find it. Stay there, figure out our next move.” Dean said.

“You think they’ll go for it?” Sam asked.

The sun ducked beneath the horizon.

“Yeah, I think they will.”               

 

 


End file.
